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Les évaporés du Japon
Enquête sur le phénomène des disparitions volontaires
Débarrassés de leur passé, ils tentent de refaire leur vie en passagers clandestins de l’archipel. Lié à la honte et au déshonneur, le phénomène est au cœur de la culture nippone.
Léna Mauger, journaliste, et Stéphane Remael, photographe, ont enquêté sur la part d’ombre du Japon.
Débarrassés de leur passé, ils tentent de refaire leur vie en passagers clandestins de l’archipel. Lié à la honte et au déshonneur, le phénomène est au cœur de la culture nippone.
Léna Mauger, journaliste, et Stéphane Remael, photographe, ont enquêté sur la part d’ombre du Japon.
260 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
June 30, 2017
The subject matter is very interesting and compelling, however this book is concerned more with conveying the overall atmosphere of places visited and people met, than being a study in the phenomena. At times it resembled a tabletop magazine article, at times an essay on author's travels or a diary excerpt.
A pity really, I would like to read a more factual take on the subject.
A pity really, I would like to read a more factual take on the subject.
Read
August 12, 2020The DACA and Dreamers issue has pushed to the forefront the issue of the importance of an officially recognized identity. It is one's passport to acceptance in regular society and access to jobs and a functional life.
The issue in this book is quite the same, but in the opposite direction-- Japanese people who are born into citizenship but must abandon their official name for anonymity and escape. Japan is built into a hierarchical, inflexible, 'shame' society where any divergence from convention is met with deep, enveloping opprobrium. The people featured in this book fell into debt with loan sharks, or lost their gainful employment, or made unacceptable choices such as the pursuit of their own independence. As a price, they are driven to leave their identities, desert their families, and as nameless people, must seek out the most indentured of labor jobs, just to keep surviving. It is a tragic final consequence of the world that Japanese culture has designed.
The issue in this book is quite the same, but in the opposite direction-- Japanese people who are born into citizenship but must abandon their official name for anonymity and escape. Japan is built into a hierarchical, inflexible, 'shame' society where any divergence from convention is met with deep, enveloping opprobrium. The people featured in this book fell into debt with loan sharks, or lost their gainful employment, or made unacceptable choices such as the pursuit of their own independence. As a price, they are driven to leave their identities, desert their families, and as nameless people, must seek out the most indentured of labor jobs, just to keep surviving. It is a tragic final consequence of the world that Japanese culture has designed.
November 18, 2017
Complete with amazing photographs, this is an exceptional investigation of the johatsu, the group of one hundred thousand Japanese who vanish without a trace every year. Though many disappear because of shame, debt, and the societal pressure for success (one student disappears when he's faced with taking his exams), the book includes a wide range of voices, stories, and reasons, including
-the companies that help those who wish to vanish to move in the middle of the night
-Sanya and Kamagasaki, neighborhoods in Tokyo and Osaka, respectively, that have been wiped off maps but are inhabited by people hoping to disappear, including day-laborers living in tiny rooms
-otakus, from the Japanese word meaning "home," referring to people who waste away and lose themselves in monomaniacal passions like doll and fanzine collecting or video games
-A detective agency that helps people find their missing family members
-A woman who left her husband and son to work at a hostess club in Tokyo
-Toyota City, a town revolving around the Toyota factory, and how its grueling physical demands wear down its workers psychologically
-Tojinbo cliffs, a popular suicide site, and the man who devotes his life to dissuading those considering suicide there
-Yakuza and organized crime
-Those who have found freedom and a sense of starting over from vanishing
-the companies that help those who wish to vanish to move in the middle of the night
-Sanya and Kamagasaki, neighborhoods in Tokyo and Osaka, respectively, that have been wiped off maps but are inhabited by people hoping to disappear, including day-laborers living in tiny rooms
-otakus, from the Japanese word meaning "home," referring to people who waste away and lose themselves in monomaniacal passions like doll and fanzine collecting or video games
-A detective agency that helps people find their missing family members
-A woman who left her husband and son to work at a hostess club in Tokyo
-Toyota City, a town revolving around the Toyota factory, and how its grueling physical demands wear down its workers psychologically
-Tojinbo cliffs, a popular suicide site, and the man who devotes his life to dissuading those considering suicide there
-Yakuza and organized crime
-Those who have found freedom and a sense of starting over from vanishing
December 8, 2025
Ouvrage documentaire sur les milliers de japonais‧es qui disparaissent chaque année de leur plein gré. Quittant mari/femme, enfants, famille, iels refont totalement leur vie sous un autre nom.
La journaliste Léna Mauger et son conjoint photographe (je n'ai eu accès qu'à la version audio de ce livre) y suivent plusieurs personnes : enquêteurs, évaporés, voisins, familles des disparu‧es, etc.
Même si quelques formulations n'échappent pas aux clichés habituels sur le Japon (entre tradition et modernité...), ce livre est vraiment très enrichissant pour comprendre le fonctionnement et les codes de la société japonaise. On y parle de pression au travail, pression familiale, du sentiment d'honneur et de honte qui sont essentiels au Japon, la façon aussi dont le monde du travail profite de ces profils plus vulnérables (ces personnes quittent tout et sont prêtes à prendre n'importe quel travail pour subsister) pour les exploiter sur des travaux difficiles voire dangereux.
La journaliste Léna Mauger et son conjoint photographe (je n'ai eu accès qu'à la version audio de ce livre) y suivent plusieurs personnes : enquêteurs, évaporés, voisins, familles des disparu‧es, etc.
Même si quelques formulations n'échappent pas aux clichés habituels sur le Japon (entre tradition et modernité...), ce livre est vraiment très enrichissant pour comprendre le fonctionnement et les codes de la société japonaise. On y parle de pression au travail, pression familiale, du sentiment d'honneur et de honte qui sont essentiels au Japon, la façon aussi dont le monde du travail profite de ces profils plus vulnérables (ces personnes quittent tout et sont prêtes à prendre n'importe quel travail pour subsister) pour les exploiter sur des travaux difficiles voire dangereux.
December 4, 2016
I only made it about halfway through this book before I started to lose interest. It may entirely be the mood I'm in, but I was hoping for more from the interviewees. More detail, more of a storytelling, let's make this interesting-feel. Instead It seemed humdrum and depressing. It could have been written better to draw in the reader's attention and allow them to feel for this "evaporated" population. If I had continued to read on maybe I'd have a different opinion, but I just can't find the drive to based on what I've read so far.
Perhaps I will pick it up when I'm in a different mood and it will be exactly what I'm looking for.
Perhaps I will pick it up when I'm in a different mood and it will be exactly what I'm looking for.
August 18, 2020
J'hésite entre 2.5 et 3 comme note.
Je trouve le sujet vraiment intéressant et intrigant, et les photographies de Stéphane Remael très belles. Elle décrivent bien la solitude et l'isolement dans lequel se sentent les "johatsu", les évadés du Japon. On prend réellement conscience de la pression de cette société basée sur l'ordre et l'obéissance, la performance, l'oubli de soi : il faut réussir, avoir un bon travail, se marier, avoir des enfants, ne surtout pas sortir de ce cadre établi. Le poids des conventions est très lourd, la peur de l'échec insurmontable.
"notre société ne permet pas que l'on soit différent"
" Rester en enfance, jouer, fantasmer : autant de remparts face à une culture qui laisse peu de places à l'individu"
Les gens qui s'écartent de ce chemin deviennent des parias, des rebus, et non seulement la honte s'abat sur eux mais aussi sur toute leur famille : "On s'évanouit, on se suicide avant tout par politesse, pour ne pas jeter l'autre dans l'embarras".
J'ai trouvé néanmoins le récit un peu décousu, incomplet, pas toujours en rapport avec le sujet (comme le passage sur Fukushima à moins que ce soit pour accentuer cette image négative du Japon ou de la société en général ?) Les remarques impromptues, ici et là, de l'auteur sur sa vie personnelle m'ont un peu dérangées dans la lecture ainsi que les derniers mots du photographe après une visite post-Fukushima : "J'ai besoin de respirer. Je rentre près des miens [aka à Paris]". Je trouve dommage de finir sur cette note. Le Japon ce n'est tout de même pas (et heureusement) que ça.
Je trouve le sujet vraiment intéressant et intrigant, et les photographies de Stéphane Remael très belles. Elle décrivent bien la solitude et l'isolement dans lequel se sentent les "johatsu", les évadés du Japon. On prend réellement conscience de la pression de cette société basée sur l'ordre et l'obéissance, la performance, l'oubli de soi : il faut réussir, avoir un bon travail, se marier, avoir des enfants, ne surtout pas sortir de ce cadre établi. Le poids des conventions est très lourd, la peur de l'échec insurmontable.
"notre société ne permet pas que l'on soit différent"
" Rester en enfance, jouer, fantasmer : autant de remparts face à une culture qui laisse peu de places à l'individu"
Les gens qui s'écartent de ce chemin deviennent des parias, des rebus, et non seulement la honte s'abat sur eux mais aussi sur toute leur famille : "On s'évanouit, on se suicide avant tout par politesse, pour ne pas jeter l'autre dans l'embarras".
J'ai trouvé néanmoins le récit un peu décousu, incomplet, pas toujours en rapport avec le sujet (comme le passage sur Fukushima à moins que ce soit pour accentuer cette image négative du Japon ou de la société en général ?) Les remarques impromptues, ici et là, de l'auteur sur sa vie personnelle m'ont un peu dérangées dans la lecture ainsi que les derniers mots du photographe après une visite post-Fukushima : "J'ai besoin de respirer. Je rentre près des miens [aka à Paris]". Je trouve dommage de finir sur cette note. Le Japon ce n'est tout de même pas (et heureusement) que ça.
October 13, 2017
2.5 stars
It's an intriguing topic and a challenging reporting endeavor: to seek out those who vanish from their old lives to build new ones elsewhere, and agents which help them do that. I also appreciate that the reporter and photographer's own desire to vanish/escape are embedded into these narratives, making clear their own motivations to study the vanished in Japan. The problem with this book lies mostly in its poor writing, or translation, given the original text was in French. I am guessing it's the former. There is uneven style. At times, there is excessive flourish; at other times, the writing is so pared down you wonder if the writer has lost the ability to describe the scene. While the photographs are great, I wonder what it is that subjects who had decided to disappear now give consent to be photographed for this book. I wish the writers could have explained that.
It's an intriguing topic and a challenging reporting endeavor: to seek out those who vanish from their old lives to build new ones elsewhere, and agents which help them do that. I also appreciate that the reporter and photographer's own desire to vanish/escape are embedded into these narratives, making clear their own motivations to study the vanished in Japan. The problem with this book lies mostly in its poor writing, or translation, given the original text was in French. I am guessing it's the former. There is uneven style. At times, there is excessive flourish; at other times, the writing is so pared down you wonder if the writer has lost the ability to describe the scene. While the photographs are great, I wonder what it is that subjects who had decided to disappear now give consent to be photographed for this book. I wish the writers could have explained that.
May 22, 2025
Une lecture vraiment intéressante et informante. Non seulement sur les évaporés du Japon, ces milliers de personnes qui disparaissent volontairement chaque années, mais aussi sur la société japonaise. La pression qui s'exerce sur la population, l'impossibilité d'avoir droit à l'échec, le devoir de vivre une vie dans les rangs, tout ceci qui participe à un malaise grandissant qui peut expliquer ces disparition mais aussi les nombreux suicides. C'est le portrait d'une population broyé par des idéaux et des traditions, une autre facette du Japon tout aussi importante à connaître.
March 29, 2017
A look into the johatsu, the 'evaporated', of Japan who walk away from their lives, often with no warning and little explanation besides a terse note, if that. Whether from debt, shame, or general malaise, these people relocate and live off the grid, leaving their families to wonder, sometimes for decades, whether they were a suicide or just another soul that's run off after being ground down by stifling societal expectations.
This book provides a glimpse into these johatsu and the wider fringes of Japanese society, but its lack of depth, due to its authors hopping over to Japan for short visits over a period of four years, is frustrating. Like a skipped stone they touch upon otaku; the homeless; the suicides at Tojinbo Cliffs; the yakuza; the yonigeya, secretive middlemen who help people move in the night to flee debtors, even disguising their movers as cleaners or tatami mat salesmen; Toyota City, the modern incarnation of Fordlandia; and others; but these are only ever discussed in a superficial way. It's a disappointment because each of these topics is fascinating and could be a book in itself
There's also a faint strain of Orientalism at work that could be grating, what with several references to the impenetrable, mysterious, alien culture of the Japanese. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, influential in its day but generally criticized today within and without Japan, is the sole resource mentioned by the authors regarding their understanding of Japanese culture, and only using a 60+-year-old anthropological work written by a non-Japanese-speaking American woman who wrote and researched it from the US (!) is problematic to say the least when framing a modern nation of 120 million. The otaku, presented as manga/anime/video-game fans who range from nerdy to creepily obsessive (the word is used for a nerdy interest in anything; train-watching otaku are a common, for example), are elided with the hikkikomori (a word never mentioned in the text, the authors just call them otaku as well), who are shut-ins living in the family home for various reasons and are not always enraptured by Sailor Moon or the like. And, as this is a French work, there are a few out-of-place references to the odd French poet or philosopher to prove that our reporter and photographer are well-educated, thank you kindly.
There was a need for much more detail about these interesting subgroups/subcultures that survive on the edges of a conformist society, though the self-narrated stories of the evaporated that pepper the book were well-done and the photographs were gorgeous.
This book provides a glimpse into these johatsu and the wider fringes of Japanese society, but its lack of depth, due to its authors hopping over to Japan for short visits over a period of four years, is frustrating. Like a skipped stone they touch upon otaku; the homeless; the suicides at Tojinbo Cliffs; the yakuza; the yonigeya, secretive middlemen who help people move in the night to flee debtors, even disguising their movers as cleaners or tatami mat salesmen; Toyota City, the modern incarnation of Fordlandia; and others; but these are only ever discussed in a superficial way. It's a disappointment because each of these topics is fascinating and could be a book in itself
There's also a faint strain of Orientalism at work that could be grating, what with several references to the impenetrable, mysterious, alien culture of the Japanese. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, influential in its day but generally criticized today within and without Japan, is the sole resource mentioned by the authors regarding their understanding of Japanese culture, and only using a 60+-year-old anthropological work written by a non-Japanese-speaking American woman who wrote and researched it from the US (!) is problematic to say the least when framing a modern nation of 120 million. The otaku, presented as manga/anime/video-game fans who range from nerdy to creepily obsessive (the word is used for a nerdy interest in anything; train-watching otaku are a common, for example), are elided with the hikkikomori (a word never mentioned in the text, the authors just call them otaku as well), who are shut-ins living in the family home for various reasons and are not always enraptured by Sailor Moon or the like. And, as this is a French work, there are a few out-of-place references to the odd French poet or philosopher to prove that our reporter and photographer are well-educated, thank you kindly.
There was a need for much more detail about these interesting subgroups/subcultures that survive on the edges of a conformist society, though the self-narrated stories of the evaporated that pepper the book were well-done and the photographs were gorgeous.
January 4, 2019
This was engrossing - I could have read it in one setting if I'd let myself but it was also pretty heart-rending at times.
The Vanished is more of a collection of (usually) closely related essays rather than a long exploration of a single topic but I didn't really have a problem with the format because it allows for a good breadth of exploration. Maybe at times this structure removed the possibility of follow-up for important people who simply are no longer mentioned after a point. Of these, I would have loved to learn more about one of the authors' translators for instance, since he too, like everyone involved in the project, became deeply unsettled by what they discovered.
But neither issue amounts to anything that would prevent me from recommending the book, especially if you are interested in how societies operate or are curious about the 'evaporated' people of Japan that it mostly focuses on.
And it's not just the grim photography within, but the stories themselves that so keenly establish the incredible weight, the pressure of expectation that the people who do disappear must feel. The terror and loneliness and also the pain for those left wondering after a loved one vanishes.
The Vanished is more of a collection of (usually) closely related essays rather than a long exploration of a single topic but I didn't really have a problem with the format because it allows for a good breadth of exploration. Maybe at times this structure removed the possibility of follow-up for important people who simply are no longer mentioned after a point. Of these, I would have loved to learn more about one of the authors' translators for instance, since he too, like everyone involved in the project, became deeply unsettled by what they discovered.
But neither issue amounts to anything that would prevent me from recommending the book, especially if you are interested in how societies operate or are curious about the 'evaporated' people of Japan that it mostly focuses on.
And it's not just the grim photography within, but the stories themselves that so keenly establish the incredible weight, the pressure of expectation that the people who do disappear must feel. The terror and loneliness and also the pain for those left wondering after a loved one vanishes.
June 15, 2017
https://101booksjapan.blogspot.ca/
The Vanished is at once a very sad and a very uplifting book. It's a collection of stories about a few of the 100,000 disappeared or evaporated in Japan - the johatsu - who just slip away every year. Supposedly this happens more in Japan than anywhere else.
The stories are sad because they are about people fleeing and leaving behind those they love. In some cases they never meet again.
But it's also uplifting when you think about the strength shown by some of these folks. Lost jobs. Huge debt. Fear of the future. And they slip away from their old lives and claw out new ones. The lives are difficult and on the edge. But these are the stories of survivors.
This side of Japan (or anywhere else for that matter) isn't talked about or shown very often - and the Vanished offers an illuminating look.
The Vanished is at once a very sad and a very uplifting book. It's a collection of stories about a few of the 100,000 disappeared or evaporated in Japan - the johatsu - who just slip away every year. Supposedly this happens more in Japan than anywhere else.
The stories are sad because they are about people fleeing and leaving behind those they love. In some cases they never meet again.
But it's also uplifting when you think about the strength shown by some of these folks. Lost jobs. Huge debt. Fear of the future. And they slip away from their old lives and claw out new ones. The lives are difficult and on the edge. But these are the stories of survivors.
This side of Japan (or anywhere else for that matter) isn't talked about or shown very often - and the Vanished offers an illuminating look.
July 10, 2018
This book is horrid. It reads like a thrown together pamphlet. The woman writing this books has no respect for Japan nor the Japanese. I think she just wants money to tour the country. Also, the epilogue makes no sense, just a thrown on chapter to add pages.
Anyone with any interesting Japan knows direct questions like in western cultures don’t work and are rude; especially about shameful topics like people disappearing. This author shows no respect in how she navigates the culture and should be ashamed of herself.
Anyone with any interesting Japan knows direct questions like in western cultures don’t work and are rude; especially about shameful topics like people disappearing. This author shows no respect in how she navigates the culture and should be ashamed of herself.
May 31, 2017
Vanished got me thinking about how sometimes we wish we could start from scratch. I have. It sure takes guts. The book left me wanting more depth.
October 3, 2020
일본에서는 스스로 모든 인간관계를 끊고 잠적하는 사람이 매년 10만명에 달한다고 한다. 버블 붕괴 후 끝없는 경제위기 속에서 빚을 갚을 길이 없어서, 부모가 정해준 남편과의 결혼 생활이 고통스럽지만 이혼할 용기가 없어서, 해고당한 사실을 가족에게 말할 수 없어서 등의 이유로 어느 날 갑자기 사라져서 아무도 자신을 알아보지 못하는 곳에서 일용직 노동자로 살아간다. 이런 사람들의 야반도주를 도와주는 회사가 있을 정도이다. 일본은 실패에 관대하지 않은 사회다. 조그만 실수에도 일본인은 크게 자책한다. 자신의 체면을 손상시키는 일, 실패, 수치심, 타인의 거절을 견디기 힘들기 때문에 인간관계를 회피해버리는 것이다. 남은 가족들은 이렇게 '증발'해버린 사람을 수치스러워하여 몇십년 만에 만나도 반가워하지 않는다. 가족이 도피했다는 것을 인정할 수 없는 사람들 중 일부는 아무 증거도 없이 그들이 북한에 납치되었다고 주장하기까지 한다. 가족이 도피했다는 사실을 회피하는 것이다.
이 책에는 이러한 '인간증발' 현상 이외에도 야쿠자, 도요타의 침체, 오타쿠, 히키코모리, 후쿠시마 원전 사고, 불가촉천민 취급을 받는 부락민, 한국계에 대한 차별 등 일본의 어두운 면이 잘 드러나 있다. 일상 생활에서 회피, 도피하고 싶을 때 이 책을 떠올려 보면 현실을 대면해야 할 의지가 생길 것 같다.
이 책에는 이러한 '인간증발' 현상 이외에도 야쿠자, 도요타의 침체, 오타쿠, 히키코모리, 후쿠시마 원전 사고, 불가촉천민 취급을 받는 부락민, 한국계에 대한 차별 등 일본의 어두운 면이 잘 드러나 있다. 일상 생활에서 회피, 도피하고 싶을 때 이 책을 떠올려 보면 현실을 대면해야 할 의지가 생길 것 같다.
September 20, 2025
100.000 personnes disparaissent chaque année au Japon.
Qui sont-elles, pourquoi, que deviennent-elles, les recherche-t-on ?
Toutes ces questions font l'objet d'une enquête approfondie que l'auteure va mener au Japon avec son compagnon dont les photos complètent superbement ce reportage
Qui sont-elles, pourquoi, que deviennent-elles, les recherche-t-on ?
Toutes ces questions font l'objet d'une enquête approfondie que l'auteure va mener au Japon avec son compagnon dont les photos complètent superbement ce reportage
July 28, 2021
C’est un bon livre pour avoir un aperçu du problème, malheureusement je n’ai pas aimé le style, ni les petits commentaires (que je trouvais plutôt inutiles) de l’auteur. Et le « entre tradition et modernité » placé ni vu ni connu, dont on pourrait se passer… surtout quand on sait que ce slogan inventé par l’Occident est faux, et surtout pour parler d’un sujet aussi lourd et grave.
Sinon je pense que c’est un bon moyen de s’informer et surtout de comprendre par les témoignages un problème qui n’est pas prêt de disparaître au Japon.
Je n’ai pas bien compris l’utilité du prologue et de l’épilogue, je pense que le livre aurait pu être introduit et conclu autrement, mais ce n’est que mon avis.
Cependant, je le recommande pour tous les passionnés de la société japonaise ! Mais ne vous basez pas que sur ce livre, regardez des documentaires (japonais si possible) et lisez d’autres livres/articles sur le sujet !
Sinon je pense que c’est un bon moyen de s’informer et surtout de comprendre par les témoignages un problème qui n’est pas prêt de disparaître au Japon.
Je n’ai pas bien compris l’utilité du prologue et de l’épilogue, je pense que le livre aurait pu être introduit et conclu autrement, mais ce n’est que mon avis.
Cependant, je le recommande pour tous les passionnés de la société japonaise ! Mais ne vous basez pas que sur ce livre, regardez des documentaires (japonais si possible) et lisez d’autres livres/articles sur le sujet !
April 12, 2020
Sujet intéressant mais le livre n'a pas réussi à retenir mon attention. Le style d'écriture est un peu étrange. On passe de l'écriture journalistique dans certains chapitres à une écriture ampoulée pleine de formules un peu clichées ("A Kama, les regrets n'ont pas leur place"). Beaucoup de hors sujets également comme l'épilogue qui parle uniquement de Fukushima (???). Un chapitre sur les otakus, un autre sur une falaise connue pour être un lieu de suicide. Le sujet est évidemment délicat et compliqué à cerner, mais je n'ai pas l'impression d'en savoir plus sur les évaporés du Japon au bout des 240 pages. L'approche est très superficielle. Certaines des photographies sont par contre magnifiques.
May 18, 2021
DNF, written in a meandering style that was not my cup of tea. An interesting subject not approached in a very coherent way, wandering between the author's jarring, amateurish approach to their investigation ("Let's, as foreign outsiders, just blunder up to people in this very private and insular culture and brashly ask them about this taboo and upsetting topic in their society!") and not-solidly-strung-together stories from individuals who either make a career of helping people disappear or who disappeared themselves, interspersed with noir-ish photos of locations and posed people. I am interested to learn more about this topic, but I couldn't bring myself to continue with this account of it.
June 20, 2017
The hardship that some Japanese people endure just to protect their pride and their families from losing face is heartbreaking.
August 6, 2017
Overall, a quick read. I was looking for more detail, but considering the topic and the silence around it in Japan, it was interesting.
January 1, 2024
Exploring a fascinating subject with moody, evocative photography, The Vanished sheds light on a taboo aspect of Japanese culture and society neglected in both Japanese and international analyses. French journalist Léna Mauger and photographer Stéphane Remael embark on a project to understand the phenomenon of “evaporated people” or johatsu, people who succumbed to the shame of failing to live up to the crushing pressures of societal expectations and convention and abandon their lives, either by suicide or by disappearing to scrape by anonymously in the semi-legal cracks of society. Johatsu, a euphemistic metaphor that draws from the evocative imagery of steam drifting up from an onsen steam bath captures the ephemeral nature of this issue and obviously becomes an obsession for the authors.
Traveling throughout the country during the late 2000s and early 2010s, from squalid urban backstreets of Tokyo and Osaka to the lonely countryside of rural Yamanashi prefecture and the Tojinbo Cliffs, they record touching interviews with people close to the topic, including family members, those who devote their lives to helping people in mental health crises, and the johatsu themselves. At the same time, during their investigations, they touch on other related topics including poverty, discrimination of burakumin and immigrants, organized crime, and the continuing economic downturn of the “lost decade” that contributes to it all, ending with an account of the devastation of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster.
The various people they encounter share strong insights into these various, little-discussed concerns affecting Japan as in many industrialized countries in the world, putting human voices to them in striking fashion. At the same time, however, the authors are following in a well-worn tradition of westerners covering Japanese society, hearing about some intriguing Japanese idiom and trying to discover what it means as though in some thoroughly alien environment. Throughout the work, they engage in the same old tropes of the, to use their words, “Japanese hive,” of their “impenetrable culture,” how “space is filled to the point of suffocation,” even while speaking to the unhoused, suicide survivors, and labor organizers who offer their own valuable critiques of their society’s values. This attitude detracts from the work as a whole, I feel, making the authors feel obtuse and disconnected from their subjects, even as they capture so many humanizing, universal emotions in our shared unstable world. The interviewees themselves are the heart of the book here, even if, in this case, you’re reading words that have been filtered from Japanese to French to English in the translation process.
Traveling throughout the country during the late 2000s and early 2010s, from squalid urban backstreets of Tokyo and Osaka to the lonely countryside of rural Yamanashi prefecture and the Tojinbo Cliffs, they record touching interviews with people close to the topic, including family members, those who devote their lives to helping people in mental health crises, and the johatsu themselves. At the same time, during their investigations, they touch on other related topics including poverty, discrimination of burakumin and immigrants, organized crime, and the continuing economic downturn of the “lost decade” that contributes to it all, ending with an account of the devastation of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster.
The various people they encounter share strong insights into these various, little-discussed concerns affecting Japan as in many industrialized countries in the world, putting human voices to them in striking fashion. At the same time, however, the authors are following in a well-worn tradition of westerners covering Japanese society, hearing about some intriguing Japanese idiom and trying to discover what it means as though in some thoroughly alien environment. Throughout the work, they engage in the same old tropes of the, to use their words, “Japanese hive,” of their “impenetrable culture,” how “space is filled to the point of suffocation,” even while speaking to the unhoused, suicide survivors, and labor organizers who offer their own valuable critiques of their society’s values. This attitude detracts from the work as a whole, I feel, making the authors feel obtuse and disconnected from their subjects, even as they capture so many humanizing, universal emotions in our shared unstable world. The interviewees themselves are the heart of the book here, even if, in this case, you’re reading words that have been filtered from Japanese to French to English in the translation process.
April 23, 2019
Pada suatu waktu dalam hidupnya, sebagian orang mungkin ingin menghilang. Setidaknya begitulah pengakuan yang saya dengar dari beberapa teman dekat saya. Saya pun pernah merasa begitu. Demikian juga fotografer buku ini yang urun kata dalam prolog dan epilog.
Fenomena ini mungkin sebenarnya enggak unik hanya di Jepang. Indonesia sendiri punya lagu "Bang Toyib" yang menyinggung isu ini. Belum lagi orang-orang yang hilang pada masa Orde Baru. Di belahan dunia lain, pemerintahan diktator juga menghilangkan banyak orang. (Kok jadi melebar sih.)
Paling tidak, buku ini membuyarkan generalisasi orang Jepang bunuh diri ketika sudah mandek dalam hidup. Rupanya sebagian orang masih menghargai kehidupan, sehingga mereka lebih memilih untuk kabur dan memulai kehidupan baru di tempat baru dengan nama baru--betapapun rendahannya.
Buku ini juga menunjukkan putaran nasib yang dapat berjungkir balik secara drastis. Sebagian orang yang diceritakan menghilang dalam buku ini asalnya punya pekerjaan bagus, kemungkinan masa depan yang cerah, atau kehidupan tenteram--malah cenderung membosankan. Tetapi, kemudian, karena melakukan suatu kesalahan, atau ada faktor eksternal, terjadi titik balik yang membukakan kehidupan baru bagi mereka--semacam trigger.
Agaknya "evaporated people" (johatsu) fenomena sosial yang sejalan dengan hikkikomori--sama-sama orang yang tersingkir dari masyarakat. Hanya saja hikkikomori menghilang di kamar di rumah orang tuanya, semacam versi kekanak-kanakkan dari yang satunya.
Buku yang kutamatkan dalam beberapa jam saja. Mungkin karena ini merupakan buku terjemahan dari bahasa Perancis, sehingga bahasa Inggrisnya cukup mudah dan topiknya memang menarik bagi yang sedang merasa berat dengan kehidupan (#halah).
Fenomena ini mungkin sebenarnya enggak unik hanya di Jepang. Indonesia sendiri punya lagu "Bang Toyib" yang menyinggung isu ini. Belum lagi orang-orang yang hilang pada masa Orde Baru. Di belahan dunia lain, pemerintahan diktator juga menghilangkan banyak orang. (Kok jadi melebar sih.)
Paling tidak, buku ini membuyarkan generalisasi orang Jepang bunuh diri ketika sudah mandek dalam hidup. Rupanya sebagian orang masih menghargai kehidupan, sehingga mereka lebih memilih untuk kabur dan memulai kehidupan baru di tempat baru dengan nama baru--betapapun rendahannya.
Buku ini juga menunjukkan putaran nasib yang dapat berjungkir balik secara drastis. Sebagian orang yang diceritakan menghilang dalam buku ini asalnya punya pekerjaan bagus, kemungkinan masa depan yang cerah, atau kehidupan tenteram--malah cenderung membosankan. Tetapi, kemudian, karena melakukan suatu kesalahan, atau ada faktor eksternal, terjadi titik balik yang membukakan kehidupan baru bagi mereka--semacam trigger.
Agaknya "evaporated people" (johatsu) fenomena sosial yang sejalan dengan hikkikomori--sama-sama orang yang tersingkir dari masyarakat. Hanya saja hikkikomori menghilang di kamar di rumah orang tuanya, semacam versi kekanak-kanakkan dari yang satunya.
Buku yang kutamatkan dalam beberapa jam saja. Mungkin karena ini merupakan buku terjemahan dari bahasa Perancis, sehingga bahasa Inggrisnya cukup mudah dan topiknya memang menarik bagi yang sedang merasa berat dengan kehidupan (#halah).
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August 12, 2025Les évaporés du Japon est une enquête littéraire poignante et fascinante qui explore un phénomène social méconnu et troublant : celui des "évaporés", ces milliers de Japonais qui disparaissent volontairement de la société chaque année, laissant derrière eux famille, travail et vie quotidienne.
Léna Mauger, journaliste et auteure, réussit à mêler habilement reportage, témoignages et analyse sociologique pour dresser un portrait à la fois intime et global de ces disparitions. Son écriture est à la fois claire et sensible, ce qui permet au lecteur de s’immerger dans un univers souvent opaque et difficile à comprendre.
Le livre se distingue par sa capacité à humaniser ces évaporés, souvent perçus comme des chiffres ou des cas isolés, en racontant leurs histoires personnelles, leurs motivations, et les conséquences de leur choix sur leurs proches. L’auteure met en lumière les pressions sociales, économiques et culturelles qui poussent ces individus à fuir, notamment dans un Japon où la conformité et la réussite sociale sont des valeurs très fortes.
Ce qui frappe également dans Les évaporés du Japon, c’est la réflexion qu’il suscite sur la solitude, la liberté, et le poids des attentes sociales dans nos sociétés modernes. Le livre invite à une remise en question profonde de nos modes de vie et de nos rapports aux autres.
En somme, Les évaporés du Japon est un ouvrage essentiel pour quiconque s’intéresse à la société japonaise contemporaine, mais aussi à des problématiques universelles telles que la pression sociale, la santé mentale, et la quête d’identité. Léna Mauger signe ici un travail rigoureux et émouvant, qui ne laisse pas indifférent.
Léna Mauger, journaliste et auteure, réussit à mêler habilement reportage, témoignages et analyse sociologique pour dresser un portrait à la fois intime et global de ces disparitions. Son écriture est à la fois claire et sensible, ce qui permet au lecteur de s’immerger dans un univers souvent opaque et difficile à comprendre.
Le livre se distingue par sa capacité à humaniser ces évaporés, souvent perçus comme des chiffres ou des cas isolés, en racontant leurs histoires personnelles, leurs motivations, et les conséquences de leur choix sur leurs proches. L’auteure met en lumière les pressions sociales, économiques et culturelles qui poussent ces individus à fuir, notamment dans un Japon où la conformité et la réussite sociale sont des valeurs très fortes.
Ce qui frappe également dans Les évaporés du Japon, c’est la réflexion qu’il suscite sur la solitude, la liberté, et le poids des attentes sociales dans nos sociétés modernes. Le livre invite à une remise en question profonde de nos modes de vie et de nos rapports aux autres.
En somme, Les évaporés du Japon est un ouvrage essentiel pour quiconque s’intéresse à la société japonaise contemporaine, mais aussi à des problématiques universelles telles que la pression sociale, la santé mentale, et la quête d’identité. Léna Mauger signe ici un travail rigoureux et émouvant, qui ne laisse pas indifférent.
April 28, 2023
Would have put 2 stars, and I put 3 for the effort they went to to gather Information.
What I expected this book to be about was way off. My initial thought was it would be an in-length study into the young men who withdraw from society by locking themselves up into their rooms for years or decades within their parent houses. This version of disappearing was briefly touched with one, short story of a persons brother whom died at and early age.
What the book mainly focused on was the other side of disappearing which, truthfully, I only learned of because of this book. People of various ages whom take on the identity of someone else to escape their own harsh realities. One would argue it’s much healthier than sitting in a dark room for decades.
However, the layout of this book need an extensive relook. It flip flops between… I’m not sure how to describe it. One chapter could be written in the authors’ first person perspective of visiting Japan through a badly explained conversation/account of that perspective. Not only that, it seems a mesh between what both had experienced. The next chapter could contain random facts that pop out of nowhere with untitled explaining of someone’s account on the matter.
When a chapter IS titled with a strangers account of becoming an evaporated, it is written half finished and comes to no clear end.
Overall, my high expectations were crushed. Somehow I stubbornly made it through this book.
What I expected this book to be about was way off. My initial thought was it would be an in-length study into the young men who withdraw from society by locking themselves up into their rooms for years or decades within their parent houses. This version of disappearing was briefly touched with one, short story of a persons brother whom died at and early age.
What the book mainly focused on was the other side of disappearing which, truthfully, I only learned of because of this book. People of various ages whom take on the identity of someone else to escape their own harsh realities. One would argue it’s much healthier than sitting in a dark room for decades.
However, the layout of this book need an extensive relook. It flip flops between… I’m not sure how to describe it. One chapter could be written in the authors’ first person perspective of visiting Japan through a badly explained conversation/account of that perspective. Not only that, it seems a mesh between what both had experienced. The next chapter could contain random facts that pop out of nowhere with untitled explaining of someone’s account on the matter.
When a chapter IS titled with a strangers account of becoming an evaporated, it is written half finished and comes to no clear end.
Overall, my high expectations were crushed. Somehow I stubbornly made it through this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2018
The books explains, “...every year, thousands of Japanese people leave their homes and never return. Some take their own lives; the bodies are never found. Other become shadows. Violent death or oblivion- there is no other solution. No country in the world, he said, has as many “evaporated” people.”
This book is full of poetic descriptions, striking photographs and a journey to discover the mystery of the evaporated.
The authors interviewed a variety of individuals: those who had “moving” companies, those who vanished and those who were left behind. The different reasons why people vanish and the reactions of society as a whole is fascinating. The culture in Japan is different from the USA. This book examines a few of the struggles in Japan: overworked employees, high suicide rates and the social pressure to succeed.
This book provides a case study of a phenomenon which is very rarely discussed in Japan. I found it to be an intriguing read about a topic I knew little about.
This book is full of poetic descriptions, striking photographs and a journey to discover the mystery of the evaporated.
The authors interviewed a variety of individuals: those who had “moving” companies, those who vanished and those who were left behind. The different reasons why people vanish and the reactions of society as a whole is fascinating. The culture in Japan is different from the USA. This book examines a few of the struggles in Japan: overworked employees, high suicide rates and the social pressure to succeed.
This book provides a case study of a phenomenon which is very rarely discussed in Japan. I found it to be an intriguing read about a topic I knew little about.
September 16, 2025
I found this book by listening to the podcast, The Evaporated, Gone with the Gods by The Binge. Yes, there is no law regarding running away, especially toward adults. Once an adult, one may do what they please, and that it includes evaporating, as this book narrates.
As interesting this book was, it was difficult for me to understand the message. I agree that Lena and Stephanie are telling a story, but I can’t help but feel impartiality as an audience. Even with setting cultural differences aside, I find it so strenuous that their system is setup to fail them, yet one would result into abandoning one’s loved ones faster than a heartbeat as the final solution. As a reader, it was arduous to empathize with those who made the conscious decision to disappear. Why is evaporating the best answer, but the aftermath is so much crueler? I hope that there are more detectives out there looking for them, so that they are not completely erased, and bridge the wounds to heal.
As interesting this book was, it was difficult for me to understand the message. I agree that Lena and Stephanie are telling a story, but I can’t help but feel impartiality as an audience. Even with setting cultural differences aside, I find it so strenuous that their system is setup to fail them, yet one would result into abandoning one’s loved ones faster than a heartbeat as the final solution. As a reader, it was arduous to empathize with those who made the conscious decision to disappear. Why is evaporating the best answer, but the aftermath is so much crueler? I hope that there are more detectives out there looking for them, so that they are not completely erased, and bridge the wounds to heal.
December 15, 2025
A powerful and unsettling look at the “evaporated people” of Japan, those who choose to disappear rather than face shame, failure, or crushing societal pressure. This book exposes a hidden mental-health crisis behind Japan’s polished image and reveals how more than 100,000 people each year quietly erase themselves from their own lives unable to face their mistakes or the judgment of society, which offers little support and often treats vanishing as preferable than to bringing shame upon one’s family. It saddened me to read that for a lot of Japanese, failure is often considered worse than death.
My heart aches for the families who may never know what happened to their missing loved ones. By exploring themes such as mental health, suicide, loneliness, shame, and societal expectations, this book has profoundly changed the way I see Japan: a country that hides a deep a mental health crisis beneath its polished surface.
My heart aches for the families who may never know what happened to their missing loved ones. By exploring themes such as mental health, suicide, loneliness, shame, and societal expectations, this book has profoundly changed the way I see Japan: a country that hides a deep a mental health crisis beneath its polished surface.
December 25, 2025
Les évaporés du Japon
L'enquête sur le phénomène des disparitions volontaires
De Léna Lauger et de Stéphane Remael
Chaque année, 100 000 Japonais s'évaporent sans laisser de traces, laissant derrière parfois des familles démunies.
Les deux auteurs, nous font découvrir à travers des témoignages poignants de certaines évaporées depuis plusieurs années... La peur, la descente en enfer... La reconstruction et parfois l'envie de retrouver leurs proches... Même si souvent cela peut risquer un impact mental et dénigrant pour l'évaporé.
Nous avons aussi le témoignage de deux familles d'évaporer, qui racontent leur histoire et la recherche de leur membre qui s'est évaporé sans laisse de trace...
Dans la culture Japonaise, malheureusement, il y a les laissés pour compte, ceux qui se mélangent discrètement avec les évaporés et vivent ensemble dans un recoin d'un quartier que les grandes villes japonaises ont simplement effacé de la carte.
Grâce à ce livre, j'ai pu comprendre les deux côtés très complexes de la culture particulière du Japon.
Aujourd'hui, avec toute notre technologie, des hommes et des femmes arrivent encore à disparaître sans laisse de trace...
Je pense qu'une fois dans notre vie, nous avions tous une fois pensé à tout lâcher et à disparaître sans laisser aucune trace... Mais souvent nous oublie vite cette pensée, mais d'autres eux disparaissent parfois à jamais pour une toute nouvelle vie.
Une lecture très intéressante et poignante pour certaines histoires.
L'enquête sur le phénomène des disparitions volontaires
De Léna Lauger et de Stéphane Remael
Chaque année, 100 000 Japonais s'évaporent sans laisser de traces, laissant derrière parfois des familles démunies.
Les deux auteurs, nous font découvrir à travers des témoignages poignants de certaines évaporées depuis plusieurs années... La peur, la descente en enfer... La reconstruction et parfois l'envie de retrouver leurs proches... Même si souvent cela peut risquer un impact mental et dénigrant pour l'évaporé.
Nous avons aussi le témoignage de deux familles d'évaporer, qui racontent leur histoire et la recherche de leur membre qui s'est évaporé sans laisse de trace...
Dans la culture Japonaise, malheureusement, il y a les laissés pour compte, ceux qui se mélangent discrètement avec les évaporés et vivent ensemble dans un recoin d'un quartier que les grandes villes japonaises ont simplement effacé de la carte.
Grâce à ce livre, j'ai pu comprendre les deux côtés très complexes de la culture particulière du Japon.
Aujourd'hui, avec toute notre technologie, des hommes et des femmes arrivent encore à disparaître sans laisse de trace...
Je pense qu'une fois dans notre vie, nous avions tous une fois pensé à tout lâcher et à disparaître sans laisser aucune trace... Mais souvent nous oublie vite cette pensée, mais d'autres eux disparaissent parfois à jamais pour une toute nouvelle vie.
Une lecture très intéressante et poignante pour certaines histoires.
December 22, 2025
The premise is interesting and maybe if the prose was better it could have been perfect but the prose was so painful, that I found myself tapping out at parts.
The writer seems more obsessed with making the perfect metaphors than actually telling a story. I'm gonna be reading scenes where all she does is describe stuff like great backdrop but three pages in, the writer still doesn't tell us why that particular backdrop is important.
I feel duped. Like I was expecting a book exploring the psychology of evaporated people in Japan and instead I get thousands and thousands of pages of metaphors.
It doesn't help at all that the language gets awkward at times. (it's a translation I realized, but it looks like the translator wasn't any good either).
And last time I checked, Sendai and Fukushima are in the north east of Japan, not the northwest, and yamanashi isn't in the north????
And Fukui is a lot more than 2 hours from Tokyo?
The writer seems more obsessed with making the perfect metaphors than actually telling a story. I'm gonna be reading scenes where all she does is describe stuff like great backdrop but three pages in, the writer still doesn't tell us why that particular backdrop is important.
I feel duped. Like I was expecting a book exploring the psychology of evaporated people in Japan and instead I get thousands and thousands of pages of metaphors.
It doesn't help at all that the language gets awkward at times. (it's a translation I realized, but it looks like the translator wasn't any good either).
And last time I checked, Sendai and Fukushima are in the north east of Japan, not the northwest, and yamanashi isn't in the north????
And Fukui is a lot more than 2 hours from Tokyo?
June 29, 2025
Un peu mitigé par rapport à cette lecture. J’ai trouvé absolument intéressant de me plonger dans les aspects plus sombres de la culture nippone qui m’avaient été seulement évoqués auparavant. J’ai aimé la sensibilité des textes, les changements de tableau de chapitre en chapitre et les quelques photographies qui sont extrêmement fortes. Par contre, j’ai trouvé que le texte s’égarait parfois et qu’on s’éloignait de notre sujet initial pour devenir un genre de carnet de bord de recherche de l’autrice et j’en questionne la pertinence. Si ces moments servaient à démontrer la difficulté de trouver de l’information sur le sujet et des gens prêts en à parler, je pense que ça aurait pu se faire de manière plus formelle et sobre, au lieu de s’étaler sur des détails personnels.
J’ai quand même adoré cette lecture, quoi qu’assez poignant par moment !
J’ai quand même adoré cette lecture, quoi qu’assez poignant par moment !
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