Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2014

Occasionally, Japanese films will take up a serious social issue. The challenge is whether the work can examine the problem in a realistic and non-manipulative way. The results with Tokyo Nammin, a movie about being homeless in Japan, are decidedly mixed. Osamu (Aoi Nakamura) is your average college student. Without warning he is kicked out of school because his fees have not been paid. The same thing happens to him with  his apartment when his father, who has been supporting him, disappears and apparently has massive debt chasing him. Thus the naïve Osamu must make his way in the world. Based on the hit 2011 novel of the same name by Tetsuzo Fukuzawa, the story dives into the sleazy host/hostess world of Tokyo’s red lights districts (which affords the flick many on-location shots of Shinjuku and Kabukicho). Osamu gets stuck with a huge bill at a hostess club and is forced to work as a host, pouring ladies drinks and entertaining them with the allure of possible sex. He gets drawn into a relationship with Akane (Chihiro Otsuka), a damaged older woman. Will the sensitive hero be able to survive and escape his plight? Overall the film is handled with the seriousness the subject matter demands, but the touches of melodrama and tear-jerking add some sour notes. Worth a look, but not a masterpiece. (English title: Refugee in Tokyo)130 min.