Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
In Japan, people don’t just ghost relationships—they ghost their entire lives. It's called jōhatsu, or "evaporation," and it’s disturbingly organized.
Known as yonige-ya, these firms quietly relocate clients overnight—no questions, no traces, no forwarding address.
For ¥50,000 to ¥300,000, you can hire experts to move your stuff, erase your tracks, and start you fresh in a new city with a new life.
It’s not illegal to vanish. Unless there's foul play, police don’t pursue adults who go missing—Japan’s strict privacy laws keep it hands-off.
From domestic abuse to job loss, debt, or failed marriages, jōhatsu offers a way out in a society where shame can be suffocating.
Some yonige-ya help scrub online footprints, redirect mail, or set up new identities—blurring the line between lawful escape and stealth evasion.
One subset? Women escaping abuse. With nowhere to turn and little institutional support, many turn to yonige-ya as a last lifeline.
Up to 100,000 people "evaporate" each year in Japan—some reappear quietly, others remain hidden for decades. It’s an invisible exodus.
Families rarely get answers. With no legal obligation to reveal a missing adult’s location, jōhatsu leaves behind silence, suspicion—and open wounds.