Every year, nearly one hundred thousand Japanese vanish without a trace. Known as the johatsu, or the "evaporated", they are often driven by shame and hopelessness, leaving behind lost jobs, disappointed families, and mounting debts. In "The Vanished", journalist Léna Mauger and photographer Stéphane Remael uncover the human faces behind the phenomenon through reportage, photographs, and interviews with those who left, those who stayed behind, and those who help orchestrate the disappearances. Their quest to learn the stories of the johatsu weaves its way through: