Each year, nearly 100,000 voluntary disappearances are identified in this country. This impressive figure testifies to a deep social phenomenon, linked to various causes. What is this country to disappear overnight seems so easy?
In France, since 2013, only the disappearances of adults, deemed “not worrying”, have escaped a police investigation. Each year, it is estimated that 2,500 adults choose to disappear without giving news. This figure, although impressive, is far from reaching that of the country holding the world record in the number of disappeared, which amounts to tens of thousands each year.
In this country, some companies have even specialized in helping disappearance. They assist people wishing to disappear discreetly by offering them accommodation in secret places, far from their loved ones … In a article published in 2016, the New York Post said these companies could invoice their disappearance services around 3,200 euros.
The reasons to disappear overnight are multiple. It can be a student who failed in his studies and does not assume the gaze of his family, an employee who is dismissed or a person overwhelmed by debts. There is therefore no typical profile of the disappeared. In this country, most missing live on the sidelines of the company, making “odd jobs” that no one wants to do, as maneuvers on construction sites or divers in restaurants.
Despite the extent of the phenomenon, disappearances remain a taboo subject. Where? In Japan. After the publication of their book Japan evaporatesjournalist Léna Mauger and photographer Stéphane Remael have drawn up. In the country of the rising sun, disappearing voluntarily is intimately linked to honor. This notion of dignity is essential in Japan as Léna Mauger has emphasized. “”With us, fleeing is seen as cowardice, while in Japan, when you lose face, leaving is necessary to save your honor“She explained in Inrockuptibles.
Some missing men and women end up resuming their lives. Indeed, the leak can sometimes be temporary, especially for those who were overwhelmed by debts. In Japanese society, after five years outside the system, the debts of an individual are erased, which allows some missing to return to a normal life.
