Directed by Ema Ryan Yamazaki • Documentary • 2024 • 99 minutes
From the director of Koshien: Japan's Field of Dreams and the Oscar-nominated Documentary Short Instruments of a Beating Heart comes a heartfelt exploration of Japanese identity as seen through the perspective of schoolchildren.
Tsukado, located in one of Tokyo’s sprawling suburbs, is one of the largest public elementary schools in Japan with nearly 1,000 students. In the nation’s unique educational system, children are tasked to run their own school in order to teach communal values and how to play one’s role in the group. Intimately capturing one school year from the perspective of 1st and 6th graders, The Making of a Japanese has the magic of childhood with precious moments of joy, tears, and discovery – as they learn the traits necessary to become part of Japanese society.
Up Next in Japan
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The Pavilion on the Water
Directed by Stefano Croci, Silvia Siberini • Documentary • 2023 • 77 minutes
The documentary feature film The Pavilion On The Water is a cinematic journey into the world of Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa and his passion for Japanese culture. Japan, to him, was an inspirational universe but also...
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Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza
Directed by Tai Kato • Drama • With Junko Ikeuchi, Chiyonosuke Azuma, Kinnosuke Nakamura • 1966 • 90 minutes
Weary of the rigid codes of the underworld, gambler Tokijiro (Kinnosuke Nakamura, Goyokin) wanders Japan in search of freedom. But escape proves to be impossible when an obligation to a g...
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Underworld Beauty
Directed by Seijun Suzuki • Drama • With Michitaro Mizushima, Shinsuke Ashida, Mari Shiraki • 1958 • 87 minutes
Retrieving the diamonds he stashed before his arrest, thief Miyamoto hopes to help his old partner Mihara, crippled during the heist. Their former boss, crime lord Oyane, offers to med...
