00:00 Why thousands of Japanese people are disappearing every year?
00:02 They disappear overnight without leaving a trace.
00:04 This phenomenon known as "Joatsu" was explored by the French journalist Lena Moge.
00:08 According to her, nearly 100,000 Japanese people disappear every year
00:11 to escape from personal or social failures
00:13 perceived as unacceptable in Japanese society
00:15 which strongly values success and conformity.
00:17 These people, unable to face the stigmatization associated with failure,
00:20 choose to disappear, leaving behind family, employment and identity.
00:24 It should be noted that there is an entire industry that helps these people disappear.
00:27 These companies are called "Yoninjeya", which literally means "clandestine shops".
00:31 Some "Joatsu" end up homeless, living in slums
00:34 and are exploited by the mafia in search of cheap labor.
00:37 One of the reasons that often comes up is to escape from gambling debts,
00:39 as well as the escape from religious cults, harassers or oppressive employers.
00:43 But it sometimes happens that people want to disappear without obvious explanations
00:46 or for reasons as banal as a failure at an exam.
00:48 The majority of the missing are men who have lost their jobs.
00:51 When a person disappears, most families hesitate to inform the police,
00:54 often out of shame of having a close one missing.
00:56 Thus, these people estimate having no choice but to flee and hide,
00:59 so they commit a "Joatsu", which translates as "escape".
Comments