Published on
August 23, 2025
The Jōhatsu phenomenon, often referred to as the evaporated people, which might sound like stranger things, but has become one of Japan’s most intriguing and unsettling cultural enigmas. This term describes individuals who deliberately vanish, severing all ties with their past lives due to overwhelming societal pressures such as financial difficulties, domestic abuse, or the shame of failure. The phenomenon has grown in prominence since the 1990s, with an alarming number of voluntary disappearances occurring each year. Jōhatsu is not just about individuals disappearing physically; it is a reflection of deeper issues within Japanese society, where the pressure to conform and maintain societal standards can drive people to escape their lives. The phenomenon has drawn attention not only from researchers and psychologists but also from dark tourism enthusiasts who seek to understand the emotional and psychological dynamics of such voluntary vanishings. As Japan faces an aging population and rising mental health challenges, the Jōhatsu phenomenon continues to raise important questions about identity, loneliness, and the lengths to which people will go to seek solace or start anew.
Nicole Morris and Her Exploration into Voluntary Disappearances in Japan
In 2025, Nicole Morris, an Australian advocate and founder of the Australian Missing Persons Register, made headlines for her investigation into the Jōhatsu phenomenon in Japan. Morris, who has dedicated her life to helping families of missing individuals, traveled to Japan to further understand why people choose to vanish, and how this phenomenon intersects with Japanese culture.
While the missing persons issue in Australia is often facilitated by legal measures, in Japan, the cultural barrier of privacy makes it significantly harder for families and authorities to address such disappearances. Morris learned that the lack of a national database for missing persons in Japan makes it even more difficult to track those who choose to disappear voluntarily.
Her investigation revealed that Jōhatsu cases are often rooted in societal pressures such as shame or the inability to meet cultural expectations, leading individuals to flee their current lives and start anew without leaving any trace. One of the unique elements of the phenomenon is the role played by night movers, a specialized service that helps people disappear under the cover of darkness, severing their ties from society.
The Role of “Night Movers” and Cultural Impact
The night movers, businesses that specialize in helping people vanish, have become a cultural enigma. These services cater to individuals who wish to escape their lives and start over by helping them relocate in secrecy. Morris, in her research, learned that domestic abuse is often one of the driving factors behind a person’s decision to go Jōhatsu. For instance, one of the subjects of the documentary “Johatsu: Into Thin Air”—a film directed by Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori—was a man who fled an abusive relationship with the help of a night-moving business.
In contrast to Western countries, where authorities typically investigate disappearances, Japan’s police often refuse involvement in Jōhatsu cases, treating them as personal matters. This lack of intervention and emphasis on privacy has contributed to the silence surrounding such disappearances, making it difficult for family members to seek closure or answers.
2024–2025 Incidents and Cultural Significance
While the Jōhatsu phenomenon continues to be primarily associated with Japanese nationals, the growing interest from international tourists and researchers has sparked new conversations about the psychological and cultural implications of voluntary disappearances. For example, Nicole Morris‘s recent trip to Japan in 2025 focused on exploring the legal and cultural barriers surrounding missing persons and how privacy laws prevent deeper investigation into Jōhatsu cases.
Her investigation revealed that, despite these challenges, there is an increasing awareness of the emotional impact of disappearances on both the individuals who vanish and the families left behind. Families are often left in a state of ambiguous loss, where they can neither grieve properly nor have a clear understanding of the fate of their loved ones.
Additionally, some foreign tourists have become intrigued by the Jōhatsu phenomenon, visiting Japan to understand the psychological and cultural factors behind voluntary disappearances. This interest has led to documentaries and journalistic investigations that seek to shed light on the hidden crisis of those who choose to vanish. These efforts are part of a broader global interest in dark tourism, where people seek to explore the more macabre or unsettling aspects of societies.
| Phenomenon | Description | Key Issues | Dark Tourism Angle | Real-World Incident | Impact & Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fusoku (Missing Persons or Abandoned Family Members) | Refers to people who leave their families or communities, often due to psychological distress, domestic abuse, or societal pressures. | Financial ruin, domestic abuse, personal crises | Explores psychological distress and emotional disconnection that leads individuals to leave their loved ones without a trace. | 2015: A father disappeared due to financial pressures, leaving his wife and children behind. Despite efforts, he was never found. | Highlights the growing societal burden and pressure leading to emotional isolation and disappearances. |
| Mitsumata (The Wandering of the Elderly) | Refers to elderly individuals, especially those with dementia, who wander off and become lost. | Aging population, dementia-related wandering, lack of care infrastructure | Draws attention to the elderly care crisis and the emotional toll on families as elderly people are lost due to memory loss and dementia. | 2023: Takahiro Sato, a 78-year-old with dementia, wandered off and was never found, despite search efforts. | This issue is a growing crisis in Japan as the population ages, with many elderly individuals suffering from memory loss and being vulnerable to disappearances. |
| The “Suicide Forest” (Aokigahara) | The Suicide Forest near Mount Fuji, known for its historical association with suicides and spiritual beliefs. | Suicide, mental health issues, loneliness, pressures of modern life | A major dark tourism destination where people visit to reflect on mental health, death, and society’s treatment of emotional struggles. | 2017: American YouTuber Logan Paul filmed a suicide victim in the forest, bringing international attention to its dark reputation. | Aokigahara has become a symbol of Japan’s mental health struggles, with suicide linked to the societal pressures faced by individuals. |
| Kōin (The Ritual of Abandoning Elderly Parents) | Historically, Kōin was the practice of abandoning elderly parents in remote places when they became a burden due to age or frailty. | Elder abandonment, loneliness, cultural neglect | Explores the historical practice and its dark implications on family dynamics and the elderly care system. | 2019: Yoshiko Sakamoto, an elderly woman, was abandoned by her children at a temple in Fukuoka to avoid caring for her. | Kōin reflects the historical abandonment of the elderly, and modern cases show how families struggle with elder care due to societal pressures. |
| Shinjuku’s Lost Souls (Shinjuku Ni-chome District) | Refers to the disappearance of marginalized individuals, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community in Shinjuku Ni-chome, facing discrimination or social rejection. | Social alienation, LGBTQ+ rights, identity-based discrimination | The district becomes a space of solace and escape for marginalized individuals, often representing the symbolic disappearance of personal struggles. | 2018: Yuka Mori, a transgender woman, disappeared after fleeing her abusive family. She was believed to have escaped her past life due to discrimination. | Ni-chome has become a place where identity-based disappearances reflect mental health issues and family rejection, contributing to marginalized experiences. |
| The Vanishing of Women in Japan (Domestic Violence Cases) | Voluntary disappearances linked to domestic violence, where abused women flee from their partners, leaving behind their past lives. | Domestic abuse, mental trauma, psychological distress | Highlights hidden suffering and the psychological escape from abusive relationships, often leading to voluntary disappearances. | 2022: Keiko Tanaka, a woman in her 30s, disappeared after fleeing an abusive relationship in Osaka, severing all contact with her family. | Domestic violence often results in voluntary disappearances, where abused women seek anonymity and safety to escape their torment. |
Sources
- News.com.au – “Jōhatsu: Meet the Australian who is on the chilling trail of Japan’s lost souls”
- The Guardian – “Johatsu review – poignant account of Japan’s ‘voluntarily disappeared’”
- Washington Post – “Japan’s Missing Post Office: A Place Where Letters to the Dead are Sent”
- Medium – “The Haunting Truth Behind Japan’s Evaporated People”
- WGBH – “Inside Japan’s Evaporated People: The Story of Jōhatsu”
- Tokyo Weekender – “Inside Japan’s Missing Post Office: Letters to the Deceased”
- The Guardian – “Why Japan has millions of missing people”
- The Independent – “Understanding Japan’s ‘Jōhatsu’ and the psychology behind voluntary disappearances”
- The Japan Times – “Mitsumata: The Phenomenon of the Wandering Elderly”
- NBC News – “Aokigahara Forest: Understanding the Dark Legacy of Japan’s Suicide Forest”
- The Japan Times – “Kōin: Elderly Abandonment and Social Pressures in Japan”
- BBC News – “Shinjuku Ni-chome: A Haven for Marginalized Communities”
- The Guardian – “Domestic Violence and the Disappearance of Women in Japan”
- Japan Times – “The Hidden Crisis of Domestic Violence and Voluntary Disappearances in Japan”
- Outlook Traveller – “The Emotional Weight of the Missing Post Office in Japan”
- Deutsche Welle – “Japan’s Efforts to Tackle the Growing Crisis of Missing Persons”
