翻訳 57

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jp/satoruishido/hiroki-nakamori

December 13, 2017

A country where thousands of people 'disappear.' What is happening in Japan?

A new book by an up and coming sociologist looks at the reality of disappearances in Japan. Today we ask: why have so many disappeared?

By Satoru Ishido

A separate Japanese society of the disappeared

1924 people in 2014. 1803 people in 2015. 985 people in 2016. These are the estimated figures of people who have disappeared from society. They have received almost no attention up until now, but these figures are the key to understanding the nature of disappearances occurring in Japan. It is often said that over 80,000 people go missing every year, but this isn't strictly true. In the majority of cases, missing persons are discovered immediately. 1924, 1803, 985...These are the numbers of people who are actually still missing, who have 'disappeared.' Although these figures themselves may not be completely accurate, as not all missing persons are reported missing. At the very least, over the course of the year, there are around 2000 people who suddenly disappear. It is a number that illustrates another reality of Japanese society.

Disappearances: the overlooked social problem

Why have these disappearances been happening? One book in particular addresses this question: 'The Sociology of Disappearances' (Keio University Press) by up and coming sociologist Nakamori Hiroki. Born in 1985, it was in his days at graduate school, with time on his hands and as yet no definite research topic, when Nakamori happened to catch a daytime soap opera where the protagonist's childhood friend suddenly disappears without trace. It made him think about the loss felt by the protagonist, which he sensed was an extremely specific experience, even if it ultimately led to the sense of bereavement and separation we all feel.

How has society dealt with the issue of disappearances? To Nakamori, this was a question worth spending time on researching. He defines disappearances as, “A phenomenon whereby a person vanishes from a family or group, does not make contact over a long period of time and whose whereabouts remain unknown.” He says that disappearances are the “overlooked social problem” of modern times. It did gain some attention after nine bodies were found in an apartment in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, yet equally it can be said that it was only after a series of young people were found dead that society began to talk about the issue.

The history of the 'desirable disappearance'

“Thousands of disappearances occur over the course of a year, and yet they aren't talked about. Obviously it depends on the case, but a family will often feel a sense of inferiority about the issue, and ultimately will not want it to be publicized. There is a desire to deal with it in secret. When it comes to society, as it is a regular occurrence, it doesn't become a topic of conversation. This is how we arrive at our current way of dealing with disappearances. What has been said about cases of disappearance and 'evaporation' up until now? We analyzed articles in weekly magazines. Put simply, the disappearances of the 1970s were seen as something desirable. They talked about becoming free of the confines of domesticity and cutting loose from your serious white collar worker husband. At the same time, the 'evaporated wife' was criticized as outrageous - divorce was not common at the time. There was also the implication at the time that a woman who could leave and be free of marriage could also be liberated from family ties. The beginning of the 1980s saw an increase in divorce rates, and it became harder to associate disappearances with such domestic liberation. They stopped being referred to as 'evaporations,' and from then on, there is a growing discourse that disappearing is an irresponsible thing to do to the people left behind. As the definition of family changes from a relationship that is fixed and inescapable to a relationship that isn't, the implication of what disappearing means also changes.”

From disappearances as an escape from a cage of futile relationships to disappearances as irresponsible behavior, society's reaction to disappearances has changed greatly.

The people affected by disappearances

What do disappearances mean to the people affected? Nakamori interviewed families searching for the disappeared, the people supporting those families, and individuals who had chosen to disappear. One phrase that kept coming up was 'ambiguous loss.' The families left behind continue on living in a kind of halfway state, not knowing whether the person dear to them is alive or dead. The ambiguous nature of the situation only makes it harder to understand. A family that were coping with the disappearance of the husband repeatedly told Nakamori that they wished he had died. Another family has little expectation that their son, who lived alone, will come back: “When someone's missing, there are no facts. I feel like he's probably alive.” This is the reality for families confronting this 'ambiguous loss.' There is no closure.

Do parents really know their children?

“Just because someone is close to you doesn't mean you know everything about them. This is also true for relationships between families and the disappeared. There are cases where families are blamed after the disappearance for not knowing about the person's troubles. People may blame themselves for things they didn't know. Others tend to expect parents to know everything about their children, or a wife to know everything about her husband, but even people who think like that don't know everything about those close to them. This doesn't apply just to disappearances, it just is the nature of family.”

What can others do to help with this 'ambiguous loss'?

What support do friends and family continuing to experience 'ambiguous loss' need? Is there anything that others can do? Another issue is the context in which a person chose to disappear and in so doing created so many painful memories for the family they have left behind. Nakamori discusses care and support, which is often overlooked, and conducts a survey of NPO staff who support families of the disappeared. A lot of families living with 'ambiguous loss' feel hurt by the half-hearted good will of those around them. For example, hearing others say things like, “Do you think they could have been abducted by North Korea?” or, “Maybe their body just hasn't been identified yet?” While they may have had the best intentions, these sorts of remarks can be emotionally damaging for a person experiencing loss.

Support staff and the power of 'the story'

“What I saw when conducting my survey was that to families coping with an ambiguous loss, NPO staff could provide information as outsiders, while at the same time fulfilling the role of a therapist who could listen to their concerns. However, strictly speaking, NPO staff are not experts. They take care not to say things that would be unlikely, give factual information and encourage a realistic outlook, all the while listening to the family's story. What is important is for the person affected by the disappearance is to talk through their feelings to find a new meaning to attach to their experience of loss. The story they tell changes over time. I thought this was incredibly important. It is not about erasing their experience of loss, or clinging to an irrational hope, but rather supporting the creation of a personal story of living with loss.”

Facing the 'ambiguous loss.' Not erasing the feeling of loss, or overcoming it, but accommodating it without struggle. The survey results can be found in 'The Sociology of Disappearances.'

The couple whose son disappeared initially felt no end to their anxiety about their son's safety. A story written by anxiety can only be impacted by being shown concrete evidence that the disappeared took their own life or is still alive. Over the course of discussions with staff, the couple chose a new story, one where their son is alive somewhere. From a story about living with anxiety came a story about believing in the possibility of being reunited one day. This change would not have been possible without outside support.

Is disappearing irresponsible?

We're learning about the need for outside support, but this can also be said for the person wishing to disappear. Do families really consider the disappeared to be irresponsible? It varies from case to case, but as a rule, most families do not think so, says Nakamori. The case of a woman who grew up experiencing neglect from her parents and chose to disappear from her family is particularly noteworthy.

“This lady had attempted taking her own life before disappearing. She saw that her suicide attempts had troubled her family, and feeling a strong sense of responsibility, she chose to disappear, rather than 'taking responsibility' by taking her life. It meant she could live a life free of her family. There are also those people who are trapped in their intimate relationships. I can't say that disappearing from them is a bad thing in every case.”

This is perhaps an extreme case. Having said that, we know there are people choose suicide because they feel trapped at their school, workplace, or organization. So do we really want to criticize those people who choose to disappear as their method of escape as 'irresponsible'? Nakamori argues that if there are still people who take their own lives out of a sense of responsibility, then we should reconsider our stance on disappearance, which can potentially release the individual from such feelings.

Where can people go to escape safely?

This is inextricably linked to the case in Zama mentioned earlier. After the disappearances had been made public, there was a marked trend of people alluding to their own desire to kill themselves on social media. While there are restrictions on overtly talking about suicidal intent, this only hides the problem, which continues existing under the surface.

“While thinking about disappearance, I thought about what people need when their relationships with different aspects of community, like family and school, aren't going well. That may well be a third party outsider, and a place people can escape to safely and be accepted, where no one removes the option to escape the community completely. It would be better if there was such as place people could run away to. These third party outsiders would be less involved and a relationship with them more routine than with family and friends, which would make conversation and support possible. Ideally in a similar way to NPO staff creating a new story with the families left behind after a disappearance.”

People live alongside their stories. The stronger people feel a sense of responsibility towards others, the more they create stories that box themselves in and control who they are. It can create a despair that makes people want to disappear.

What should be asked of a society where thousands of people disappear across the course of a year? Perhaps now is the time to face up to the questions posed by this young sociologist.