The Making of a Japanese

The documentary was filmed at a public elementary school in Tokyo. The school is in Setagaya and is one of the largest in Japan. The crew stayed there for a full school year. More than seven hundred hours of footage were gathered. The camera follows first graders and sixth graders. The children’s joy is in there and so are their tears. What they learn is not only lessons. The traits society expects of them are taught at school as well. The story is not looking for big events. It stays with small details. The question it asks is plain enough, how a Japanese person is made. The film neither celebrates that nor condemns it. The director grew up in Japan herself. She is looking at the culture she came out of. The ninety nine minute documentary is a Finnish, French, Japanese and American co-production Ema Ryan Yamazaki finished in 2024.