Johatsu: Evaporated People - Japanese
I recently heard an interesting anecdote about Japanese culture that I identify with the word of today, johatsu. It’s in a podcast that describes the memories and habits of famous people in Turkey about food and drink culture with a nice conversation.
In that episode, an architect describes an encounter he experienced in Japan. The architect is in Japan for a construction project, and once the meetings are finished, he is seeking for a local Japanese restaurant to eat at. He wants to find more authentic experiences rather than tourist traps and stumbles into a modest spot on the street. Indeed, it is a typical restaurant where the locals, possibly tradesmen, eat on a daily basis. The architect is overjoyed and proceeds to the counter where the food are displayed, where he selects three plates. He takes his food, sits at his table, and tastes everything. The end effect is disaster. He understands he can't eat any of them, and if he does, he'll probably vomit.
On the other hand, he is aware that such an act would be a great dishonor to the cook. He has also heard that in Japanese culture, actions to make someone feel ashamed can even lead to harakiri. So, if he got up and left without eating—this would be normal in the West—it could have very different and terrible consequences here. Since it is impossible for him to eat the food, he thinks of ways to sneak out of the tiny restaurant. Finally, he manages to get out of the door opened by a newcomer without being seen by anyone and throws himself on the street. After he got out, he drove away at full speed, and even today he remembers the relief of being out of the situation.
At first, this anecdote seemed exaggerated to me. A chef would commit harakiri just because a customer didn't like his food; that's ridiculous. Your meal may not suit the taste of one person; but, if dozens of people come to your restaurant every day to eat your food, there is no problem; you can continue on your way.
But after learning the meaning of the word johatsu and reading that this is not an unusual concept in Japan; it is a well-known phenomenon, I started to think that the consequences of the situation described in the anecdote were not as exaggerated as I thought.
Johatsu means vaporized people, that is, people who disappear suddenly and without a trace. In Japanese culture, it is much easier to be disrespected than in the West. For example, a person who is dismissed from their job, instead of informing their family about it, can disappear, feeling dishonoured. He disappears in an instant and slides into a shadow life in another place where no one recognizes him, as if he never existed.
In Japan, this is a well-known phenomenon, and there are even companies that serve people who want to vanish. Family problems, sexual differences, or karoshi, or death because of overwork, which is also a well-known concept in Japanese culture, may cause people to choose johatsu instead of struggling to live.
French journalist Léna Mauger has written a book about the phenomenon of johatsu in Japan. In her book The Vanished: The "Evaporated People" of Japan in Stories and Photographs, she includes interviews with people who have chosen johatsu, introduces the areas where vanished people live, tells the stories of those left behind, and tells the suicide stories of people who have physically evaporated from the world. According to Mauger, one hundred thousand people disappear every year in Japan. As you can see, it is not a small number at all; it is a huge fact that cannot be overlooked or hidden, and it is a known phenomenon.
Perfectionism, intolerance to even smalest failures, living a life like leading a line perfectly. Are those more valuable than a person’s life? I don’t think so.
The impact of culture on human beings is incredible. Think about it: A person born in Sweden might be fired from a job or have a different sexual orientation, and those would be welcomed normally by the society, whereas the same person born in Japan might disappear or commit suicide.
Writing these newsletters becomes more and more meaningful for me every day. It is endlessly fascinating what we have learned and can learn about the world and its various cultures.
Wish you a weekend and a week filled with joy in life.
-Gulsun
Thank you for taking the time to accompany me in the story of a new word. Every word of the world’s languages is also ours, belonging to humanity while giving us an essence of the culture in which it was rooted.
We are made of stories—that is, of words.
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