The Reel Review
In April 2015 journalism intern Shiori Itō was drugged at a Tokyo restaurant and dragged by Noriyuki Yamaguchi, the Washington Bureau Chief for the Tokyo Broadcasting System, to his hotel room where she says he raped her. Aware of Yamaguchi’s close friendship with then Japanese Minister Shinzo Abe and other high-ranking authorities, police stalled and then dropped the criminal case, claiming there wasn’t enough evidence. So, like any intrepid journalist, Itō took matters into her own hands. This documentary is her story.
Itō is a courageous and compelling witness, showing frustration as surreptitiously recorded investigators stall and make excuses as to why they won’t arrest her accused rapist. This comes despite damning hotel surveillance video showing Yamaguchi dragging a clearly incapacitated Itō into the hotel. Itō interviews the initial investigator and several witnesses – among them the taxi driver and the doorman – to get details of what happened while she was passed out. All of this, despite pleas from her own family to stay quiet so as not to ruin her career or the rapist’s life.
Throughout the course of the documentary, as Itō becomes more confident in her mission, the production techniques improve and her emotions emerge, despite a delivery that is admittedly dry and at times, a bit slow. Still, Black Box Diaries is an important and compelling film about this brave woman who singlehandedly started Japan’s #MeToo movement.
REEL FACTS
• Black Box Diaries has been screened at more than 50 film festivals and in countries around the world, with one glaring exception: Japan.
• The #MeToo movement has not caught on in socially conservative, patriarchal Japan, where speaking out draws criticism rather than sympathy, even from other women.
• Tokyo Broadcasting System dismissed Noriyuki Yamaguchi as Washington bureau chief three weeks after the alleged sexual assault, moving him to the network’s sales division where he worked for another year. According to his Facebook account, Yamaguchi, a right-winger whose posts praise Donald Trump and criticize the LGBTQ+ community, is self-employed and has a YouTube channel with more than 100,000 subscribers.
Video & Photo
