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.

Watch the film here.