Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2012

While it is easy to criticize the current state of fictional feature film in Japan its documentary tradition, including present-day efforts, is one that can be lauded. Starting with challenging work from New Wave directors like Shohei Imamura, documentaries by independent filmmakers have consistently been hard-hitting, challenging, experimental, political and very truthful. A stellar example of this is Yuki Yukite Shingon (The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On; 1987) by renowned documentarian Kazuo Hara.

The present work by Saburo Hasegawa is in much the same vein. It is outraged at injustice and pulls no punches anywhere. Hasegawa portrays 90-year-old photojournalist Kikujiro Fukushima, who has been detailing social problems and prejudice for sixty years. Fukushima, still full of energy, got his start as a photographer and a campaigner for social justice with a series of photos on a hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor), started in 1951. He has captured just about every societal issue in Japan from the Emperor’s war responsibility to the controversy over seizing land for Narita Airport and the discrimination against Koreans in Japan.

One downside is the soundtrack is sometimes hard to hear and Fukushima’s Japanese difficult to catch. But this is still essential viewing. English title: Japan Lies (114 min)