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Life Goes on

One of Japan's most inspirational documentaries of 2018 "Life Goes On..." True stories of ordinary people struggling to rebuild their lives after the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Courage and compassion in the face of adversity. Six years after East Japan's Great Earthquake & Tsunami, director Mia Yoon reveals why she returned to the affected area. "The tragedy of Tohoku has been broadcasted to the world, but since then, rays of hope and happiness have begun to emerge, and these stories deserve to be told.” Actress Norika Fukiwara introduces to us the realities of life in this beautiful yet tragic landscape. We learn from farmers, children, house wives, a hotel manager, oridnary people struggling to re-build their lives. Against the trauma of lost love ones, devastated commuities and the threat of nuclear fallout, the resilience and benevolence of ordinary people is nothing short of insprational: a message for us all.

Life Goes on

NR 2018
八代目市川染五郎 密着3650日~12歳・若武者が生まれるとき~

Includes footage of the oral presentation of the third generation of Ichikawa Somegoro VIII and others. In June 2007, when he was two years old at the Kabuki-za theatre, he played the chivalrous Harusamegasa in his first appearance under his real name 'Fujimasai'. Koshiro Matsumoto IX says he started jumping around in the middle of the day and was made to study without knowing he wanted to play Benkei Rokkata By the age of four, he had become Kintaro Matsumoto IV and is now Somegoro Ichikawa VIII. The film presents 10 years of close-up footage.

八代目市川染五郎 密着3650日~12歳・若武者が生まれるとき~

NR 2018
Boy Soldiers: The Secret War In Okinawa

The greatest taboo of the Battle of Okinawa were Guerrilla units composed of boy soldiers. Until now, not even the Japanese people knew the full scope of these secret troops, and survivors have been afraid to share their tragic details. Okinawa became the bulwark to protect the Japanese mainland toward the end of World War II. After the Americans landed, a violent battle ensued resulting in the loss of over 200,000 lives – many of them civilian. This documentary uncovers Japan’s deepest secrets concerning the Battle of Okinawa, and also sounds alarms about modern Japan’s recent steps toward remilitarization.

Boy Soldiers: The Secret War In Okinawa

10.0 2018
Inland Sea

Wai-chan is one of the last remaining fishermen in Ushimado, a small village in Seto Inland Sea, Japan. At the age of 86, he still fishes alone on a small boat to make a living, dreaming about his retirement. Kumi-san is an 84 year old villager who wanders around the shore everyday. She believes a social welfare facility “stole” her disabled son to receive subsidy from the government. A “late - stage elderly” Koso-san runs a small seafood store left by her deceased husband. She sells fish to local villagers and provides leftovers to stray cats. Foresaken by the modernization of post-war Japan, the town Ushimado's rich, ancient culture and tight-knit community are on on the verge of disappearing.

Inland Sea

7.4 2018
Documentary Movie: Idol

"Idols" have become a representative part of Japanese culture. This film is a documentary that delves into the undiscovered "underside of idols". SKE48 was established in July 2008 in Sakae, Nagoya, as the first group of AKB48's national expansion. SKE48 was the forerunner of the 48 Project, which later expanded nationwide and then worldwide. The group is full of girls who are trying to make their dreams as idols come true. The film portrays in graphic detail the emotions of these girls who have foregone an ordinary girl's life to choose the profession of an "idol".

Documentary Movie: Idol

6.3 2018
One Day We Arrived in Japan

Spanning 10 years and 10,000 miles, One Day We Arrived in Japan shows the stories of three Brazilian families who set off to Japan in search of a better future – a mother and daughter, a young couple, and a family of four with a small child. The film captures the passage of time, forming layers of memory and revealing how the families’ dreams and expectations stand up to a grueling new reality on the other side of the world. Since 1990, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians of Japanese descent have gone to Japan to work. This unique documentary brings to light the gripping personal stories behind a major transnational phenomenon.

One Day We Arrived in Japan

NR 2018
Danchi Woman

85 years old and never married, Shizu has spent the past 3 decades living in one "Danchi" - the Japanese word for public housing - and filling it with the lifetime of souvenirs that have always kept her company. When the danchi is scheduled for demolition, Shizu and neighbors must say goodbye to their homes, and move into newer danchi that are too small to hold all of Shizu's mementos. This intimate documentary captures Shizu's sense of humor, and profound nostalgia, as she sorts through relics of her past, and chooses which memories she must fit into her new home, and which ones she can let go of.

Danchi Woman

NR 2018
Korean Schools in Japan

In 1948, after the Japan’s defeat, the General Headquarters and Japanese government ordered that the Chosen gakko, schools for Koreans in Japan,ō be shut down. Koreans in Osaka strongly resisted, and 16-year-old Kim Taeil was even shot and killed by the police. This was the Hanshin Education Incident. 70 years have passed, but the Japanese oppression continues. They've removed the Chosen gakkoō from being eligible for free education. Gaining strength from the growing hatred from the conservatives, the Abe administration is misusing the educational issue as a means to cause political strife. In the midst of ongoing conflicts in Japan, nonfiction writer KO Chanyu has directed Korean Schools in Japan, compiling a history of the Koreans' fight for education.

Korean Schools in Japan

NR 2018
Jōmon ni hamaru hitobito

Jomon Period. This word that even elementary school students know if they are Japanese. However, the more I know the actual situation, the more mysteries there are ... In fact, most of them are mysteries. Although there are a huge number of strange shaped objects such as clay figurines that seem to support the theory of aliens flying to Earth, what they are, even now in the 21st century. It's still a mystery without anyone reaching the truth. The film approaches the core of its secrets through interviews with archaeologists, cultural figures, artists, and those who are passionate about the Jomon period.

Jōmon ni hamaru hitobito

NR 2018
Discovery of the Century — The Great Dinosaur of Japan

It's considered the discovery of the century in Japan -- the unearthing of a complete fossilized skeleton of an 8-meter long dinosaur. It was dubbed Mukawaryu based on the name of the town in Hokkaido where it was uncovered. The find opened up a new world of dinosaur research in Japan. But it also created another mystery because this land dinosaur was discovered in a location that, eons ago, would have been in the ocean. How did the fossil get there? The amazing answer is revealed in this documentary, using CGI to re-create how dinosaurs lived 72 million years ago.

Discovery of the Century — The Great Dinosaur of Japan

NR 2018
Protectors Of Firefly River

This documentary is set in a small mountain village in Nagasaki Prefecture. 13 households, 54 residents remained and they all help each other to live. More than fifty years ago, plans surfaced for constructing a dam, which residents have steadfastly opposed. Villagers who want to protect a hometown blessed with abundant nature and clean water have been pitted against a mighty power. Rather than focus on the opposition movement, this film turns its sights on the lives of people now bound together like family in their coexistence with nature.

Protectors Of Firefly River

NR 2018