Johatsu (evaporated) is the term applied to the people who disappear in Japan. It is estimated that nearly 80,000 vanish each year for various reasons, be they to escape crime, debt, or difficult personal relationships. There are companies set up to aid an escape. These agencies, operating what are known as “night moving” services, will help an individual set up a new life.

Through interviews and fly-on-the wall footage following subjects in Osaka, Tokyo, and elsewhere, this documentary gives glimpses of what motivates people who choose to leave, the process of night moving, searches for the vanished conducted by a private detective, the psychological strains on the disappeared, the emotional impact on those left behind, and moments when people from an old life are contacted again.

(To protect the privacy of the people who appear in the film, some of the images have been processed using blurring and AI technology.)