Running away from one life to start another is an old and universal act of desperation. And yet in Japan, what is called ¡°Âᨳ󲹳ٲõ³Ü¡± or ¡°evaporating¡± became a trending topic as the booming bubble economy of the late 1980s gave way to the crash of the early ¡¯90s.
People deep in debt and hounded by creditors began to use companies colloquially called ¡°night movers¡± that helped them not only make their escape but also sort out their affairs and transition into a new, usually lonely, existence.
Such companies still serve a need, as evidenced by ¡°Johatsu: Into Thin Air,¡± an artfully shot and edited observational documentary by Arata Mori and German filmmaker Andreas Hartmann that has traveled widely on the festival circuit.
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