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About 100,000 people disappear every year! What is Johatsu, the Japanese phenomenon of people who voluntarily disappear without a trace?

2025-08-23 13:06:31Fokus SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
About 100,000 people disappear every year! What is Johatsu, the Japanese
Johatsu

In Japan, there are agencies for those who want to "evaporate" from their lives. They take care of everything: from relocations to remote areas, new jobs, new documents and even a new face with cosmetic surgery.

Who has not felt the desire to "disappear without a trace" at one time or another?, writes "La Stampa", highlighting various problems that millions of people experience, whether economic or social.

A bad day, problems piling up, anxieties gnawing at the stomach: the thought of escaping from everything and everyone, even for a moment, is almost universal.

Usually, the crisis is limited to a sigh of “enough, I’m giving up on everything,” uttered in a moment of despair, before returning to the usual routine. But in Japan, this impulse is not just a passing whim.

The Japanese art of disappearance

In Japan, the desire to disappear has a specific name: "johatsu" which literally means "evaporation".

These are people who voluntarily choose to disappear without a trace, abandoning their home, work, family, and friends, without explanation or warning.

The reasons are varied and often painful: serious financial problems, personal or professional failures, scandals, episodes of domestic violence or simply the unbearable weight of social expectations.

It has been theorized that Japan's harsh work culture, combined with a lack of family and community support, has contributed to the spread of johatsu.

Furthermore, leaving a company is seen as shameful in Japanese culture. Suicide, working to death (karoshi), and committing johatsu are therefore possible outcomes.

It can also save the family from the high costs that can be associated with suicide, such as debts, cleaning fees, and various economic fees.

This phenomenon is worrying for the Land of the Sun as the phenomenon is increasing, especially among young people.

"Disappearance agencies"

However, evaporating is not easy. That is why in Japan there are companies that specialize in helping those who want to disappear: they are called yonige-ya, from the verb yonige, "to run away at night". These are completely legal services, offering quick overnight moves, accommodation in remote areas and help in finding new jobs. Some agencies, in extreme cases, even offer fake documents and access to cosmetic surgery to completely change someone's face and identity. On their websites, they advertise packages and price lists as if they were regular relocation companies. And the prices are staggering.

Where to disappear?

Those who decide to "steam up" often prefer the most remote areas of the country, such as the slopes of Mount Fuji. But leaving the capital is not mandatory. In Tokyo, there are neighborhoods that, due to their history and social structure, are suitable to become a haven for "steamers". One of these is San'ya, a suburban area that for centuries was home to the most marginalized classes, such as those involved in professions considered unclean, such as butchers or leather workers.

Today, the San'ya neighborhood has changed its name - Higashi-Asakusa or Nihonzutsumi - but retains an aura of seclusion. The symbolic entrance is marked by the Namidabashi, the "bridge of tears", so called because it was once the last place where death row inmates could say goodbye to their families before execution.

Why is it so easy to disappear?

Strict privacy laws make the system even more impenetrable: in Japan, if a person does not register with their new municipality of residence, the authorities cannot find out where they are. There are no reports, no automatic investigations. As a result, those who choose to disappear can do so. At least until they decide to reappear.

At the same time, there is another thriving market: that of private investigators specializing in finding missing persons. A double standard: those who help with disappearances and those who are paid to bring the missing to light. An example of this is the 1967 film "A Man Vanishes." The film, directed by Japanese director Imamura Shohei, attempts to reconstruct the past life of Oshima, a man who disappeared into thin air.

How many "vaporized" people are there?

It is impossible to get exact figures, but estimates from the Japanese National Police suggest that around 80,000 people disappear each year. The Japan Missing Persons Support Association believes the true figure is higher: at least 100,000 individuals. Of these, many are found, but thousands never return to their former lives. In some extreme cases, the disappearance ends in suicide: a tragic way to avoid disgrace and relieve the family of the financial burden of a funeral. For others, however, johatsu represents a new opportunity, a rebirth. An escape from a world that leaves no alternatives. For yonige-ya agencies, however, it is a multimillion-dollar business./ VoxNews


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