Japan’s Secret Shame Thursday, BBC2, 9pm
The #MeToo movement has seen women across the world opening up about their experiences of sexual assault and harassment, but in Japan, speaking about such incidents remains strictly taboo. So when 29-year-old journalist Shiori Ito went public with her claims that she’d been raped by a well-known TV personality, who strenuously denies the allegations, it shocked the country and led to her receiving hate mail. This documentary looks at how she has dealt with the reactions to her decision to speak out, but also explores the wider issues of gender and traditional attitudes in Japan as Shiori visits the institutions that she feels failed her and meets some of the women who are too frightened to report their own assaults.
This film tells the moving story of 29-year-old Japanese journalist Shiori Ito, who in May 2017 shocked Japan when she went public with allegations that she was raped by a well-known TV journalist.
Yamaguchi Noriyuki is a journalist in Japan. A press reporter from the social and political department of former TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting) press office, producer of “Press coverage”, Washington bureau director. He is closely related to Shinzo Abe, and there is a book called “Prime Minister”.
Through Shiori’s testimony, the film outlines her allegations against Noriyuki Yamaguchi, on the night the two met for a business dinner in Tokyo. Mr Yamaguchi, the biographer of Japan’s prime minister, strenuously denies her claims. It recounts what led Shiori to take the unprecedented decision to go public with her allegations in a country where speaking about sex crimes remains strictly taboo. Following Shiori over the next year, the film tells the story of how criminal charges against Mr Yamaguchi were never brought, and her decision to pursue a civil case against him – a case which he is defending. It also portrays the consequences Shiori faced by speaking out in Japanese society. While the #MeToo movement saw women coming forward in solidarity across the globe, in Japan, Shiori was met with hate mail and public humiliation.
Interweaving in the wider social issues of gender and traditional attitudes in Japan, the film follows Shiori on her personal journey, as she visits the institutions she believes failed her, meets with other women who are too frightened to even report assaults, and fights to affect change in Japan.
The #MeToo movement has seen women across the world opening up about their experiences of sexual assault and harassment, but in Japan, speaking about such incidents remains strictly taboo. So when 29-year-old journalist Shiori Ito went public with her claims that she’d been raped by a well-known TV personality, who strenuously denies the allegations, it shocked the country and led to her receiving hate mail. This documentary looks at how she has dealt with the reactions to her decision to speak out, but also explores the wider issues of gender and traditional attitudes in Japan as Shiori visits the institutions that she feels failed her and meets some of the women who are too frightened to report their own assaults.
#JapansSecretShame
日本語版ホームページも参照のこと。
おおっぴらにお勧めはしませんが、某ユーチューブにさっそくアップされてます。
鰯 (Sardine) 2018/06/29
アイルランドの新聞記事 (2018/07/13)
【参照記事】
【追記】
関連としてこれも上げておこう。伊藤詩織さんを、「女として落ち度がある」と言った杉田水脈議員、今度は総合誌『新潮45』にて、「LGBTのカップルは子どもをつくらない。すなわち『生産性』が低い。そこに税金を投入することはいいのか」と、人権意識のまるで欠如した論を寄稿している。私は、「公人としてふさわしくない思想なので、今すぐ議員を辞めてほしい」と思う。（2018/07/25)
なお、“Japan’s Secret Shame Thursday”は2018/07/26、BBC2で再放送される。
10/15追記；韓国、ハンギョレ新聞。
