"Every year, nearly 100,000 people in Japan voluntarily vanish without a trace. Known as *johatsu*—the 'evaporated people'—they leave behind jobs, families, and debts to start fresh in the shadows."
But someone has to help them disappear. The *yonige-ya*, or "night-moving" companies, operate in a legal gray area, charging up to ¥300,000 ($2,600) for midnight moves, fake identities, and surveillance countermeasures [citation:10][citation:3]. 80% of their clients are women fleeing domestic abuse, stalking, or toxic work environments. Some clients reach out because it's their only alternative to suicide [citation:4][citation:10]. In this episode, a former johatsu reveals the three most terrifying jobs he performed—from hiding a family in an administrative void to ferrying a client past debt collectors in the dead of night. Because in Japan, sometimes disappearing is the only way to survive.