movie: The Making of a Japanese
I love documentary films. The first ones I watched were Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. I also enjoyed Super Size Me, An Inconvenient Truth, Michael Jackson’s This Is It, and Maria by Callas.
Among Japanese documentaries, I’ve seen Senkyo (The Election), Yakuza to Kenpō (Yakuza and the Constitution), and most recently, Antonio Inoki wo Sagashite (Searching for Antonio Inoki).
I had the opportunity to watch the documentary The Making of a Japanese in Ginza, Tokyo. The film portrays life at an elementary school in Setagaya, Tokyo, and follows students in the 1st and 6th grades.
The director, who has a British father and a Japanese mother, attended a public elementary school in Osaka until the age of 12. She made the film based on her belief that her experiences there shaped her Japanese identity, an aspect that was later recognized and praised in her life.
As someone who went through Japan’s public education system up to high school and is now a mother of three, watching the documentary brought a sense of nostalgia. I recognized familiar scenes—cleaning classrooms, serving lunch to classmates, practicing for sports festivals, and preparing for school ceremonies.
I also recognized the way teachers interact with students, showing both care and discipline. From an adult perspective, the numerous rules and routines may resemble military training. Yet, over six years, those routines become second nature, shaping what we might call "the making of a Japanese."
One aspect that surprised me was how little has changed in 35 years. The only notable difference was the use of iPads, likely introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate remote learning during school closures.
The documentary was skillfully filmed. The camera operated at the eye level of the children, around 120 cm, naturally capturing their voices. The integration of the camera and microphones into the environment was seamless, making the scenes feel authentic.
After the screening, the director, Ema Yamazaki, shared her experience. She spent a full year preparing and negotiating with both the local municipality and the school to gain permission for filming. Public schools in Japan typically close their doors to outsiders, so I imagine Yamazaki’s dedication made the project possible.
This film is just the beginning.
Even in this documentary, you could see some children resisting the rigid rules, which often leads to absenteeism. In fact, the number of elementary and junior high school students who are chronically absent from school reached a record high last year.
Teachers are under immense pressure, struggling to balance work and personal life. One of my daughter’s teachers leaves home at 4 a.m. and doesn’t return until 10 p.m. Japan is facing a teacher shortage, with schools across the country struggling to replace retiring educators or find substitutes for those on leave.
Although it wasn’t directly shown in the film, I understand the challenges families face in supporting their children’s education. Students in grades 4 to 6 spend long hours at cram schools preparing for private junior high school entrance exams, especially in Tokyo and Osaka.
Mothers, in particular, are heavily burdened as fathers are often absent from home, working until 8 or 9 p.m. every day. This leaves mothers solely responsible for raising and disciplining their children, a role that has gradually shifted from the home to the school.
I look forward to Yamazaki’s next project, which I expect will delve even deeper into more controversial issues.
Notes:
https://shogakko-film.com/ (in Japanese)
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2024/12/05/film/the-making-of-a-japanese/
https://japansociety.org/events/the-making-of-a-japanese/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0874261/ (Senkyo)
http://www.893-kenpou.com/ (in Japanese, Yakuza to kenpo)
https://gaga.ne.jp/inoki-movie/ (in Japanese, Antonio Inoki wo Sagashite)
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/editorial/yomiuri-editorial/20241114-222462/