Japan will for the first time screen a documentary directed by a prominent campaigner in the country’s #MeToo movement, months after it was nominated for an Oscar.
Shiori Ito won a landmark 2019 civil case against a Japanese TV reporter accused of raping her — a charge he denies — and turned her ordeal into a film screened worldwide.
But “Black Box Diaries” has until now not been distributed in Japan, where her former lawyers raised concerns over video and audio that was covertly shot or meant for use in court.
The documentary will finally be shown at one cinema in Tokyo from December, according to publicist Toei Advertising.
It was unclear if other movie theatres would screen the film, which was nominated but did not win the best documentary feature category at this year’s Academy Awards.
“The version released in Japan has been finalised with some revisions and adjustments made based on feedback received from the parties involved,” the publicist said in an undated press release.
Ito was quoted as saying she hoped the film would help ignite conversations to “protect the next person, and move society little by little”.
Lawyer Yoko Nishihiro, who represented Ito for more than eight years, said she had felt “completely shattered” after realising that a secretly recorded phone conversation had been featured in the documentary.
Nishihiro and her team highlighted other footage used without permission, including hotel CCTV shown in court.
The lawyers said earlier this year that “Black Box Diaries” was not “banned” in Japan or shunned over to its subject matter, but rather had not been shown due to these concerns.
Ito apologised for the incident.
Despite several high-profile cases, Japan has never seen an outpouring of #MeToo allegations, Ito — who received vicious online criticism for going public — has said.
Government surveys in Japan show few rape victims report the crime to the police, although the number of consultations at sexual violence support centres is rising.
Ito alleges that ex-journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi — who had close links to then-prime minister Shinzo Abe — raped her in 2015 after inviting her to dinner to discuss a job.
Having told Ito there was insufficient evidence, police then said they would arrest Yamaguchi, before suddenly backing off.
In the documentary, Ito records one police investigator telling her the order came from “higher-ups”.
In 2019, she won $30,000 in damages in a civil case that was followed by a toughening of Japan’s rape laws.
mac-aph/dhw
