Quatro Paredes

Japanese journalist Shiori Ito's brave and self-documented quest for justice is a powerful and emotional exploration of Japan's approach to handling rape victims, where only 4% of such crimes are reported to the authorities.

Similar to the process of writing a memoir, the creation of this film serves as a therapeutic means of confronting trauma, allowing for reflection and analysis, and enabling others to engage with her experience and empathize with the cause. Through this endeavor, Shiori Ito emerges as a remarkable figure, one who has put aside her own comfort to advocate for necessary reforms in her country's antiquated justice system.

In 2015, Shiori Ito was an intern at Reuters when she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Noriyuki Yamaguchi, the senior journalist and head of the Washington bureau for the Tokyo Broadcasting System. He refuted her claims, asserting that their encounter was consensual, exemplifying the all-too-common "he said, she said" dilemma that many women face. Throughout her struggle to file charges, she encountered numerous obstacles, highlighting a flawed system where the definitions of rape and consent are murky, and the process of obtaining a rape kit for evidence is fraught with challenges. This contributes, as I mentioned at the beginning, to the alarming underreporting of such cases in Japan.

In May 2017, she finally decides to go public, making one last effort to push for an investigation into her case. She documents her journey, sharing her thoughts, the behind-the-scenes aspects of the court proceedings, and the writing of her memoir - and this was the part where it felt like a rae victim exploitation documentary! Just my feeling - uneasy one. With CCTV footage from that night and interviews with peripheral figures like the taxi driver and door concierge, we witness the online vitriol directed at her and the political connections Yamaguchi had, highlighting the immense frustration and scale of her struggle.

Documentaries of this nature are challenging to watch, and they should be. Ito emerges as a natural journalist, relentlessly pursuing the truth amid the chaos. She is determined and strong, yet also vulnerable and fearful for her safety. She understands that her efforts are for others who have faced similar experiences and been overlooked. Aware that she will be labeled a victim and that this could impact her career and treatment by others, her bravery shines through. The film elevates her from victim to champion, and while the trauma of the assault occasionally surfaces, it does not define her or portray her as weak.

Japan's #meetoo moment. Hardly the same impact, because Japan is a shamelessly patriarchal society with a 100 year old rape law. A government official states that only 4% of victims actually come out and go to the police. 4%. And of those very few are prosecuted. This woman had witnesses, video footage of being incapacitated, some DNA on her body and yet... Kudos to the taxi driver who actually spoke on camera about what he saw and heard.

When will we stop repeat victimizing and shaming women? Why is the sufferer of sexual crimes shamed and blamed and told to hide themselves and the offender not even talked about? Why are we using euphemism like "incident"?

This woman was clearly drugged to render her incapacitated and unable to resist. Men have been trying to get women drunk, drugged, to render them unconscious by any means for ages. It does not equal consent. Of course they know that. That's what they are trying to avoid.

There are no consequences here for the politicians and the police chiefs. The footage of the parliament hearings is infuriating.

Shiori Ito had support from friends and lawyers. She lost her livelihood. She was insulted and threatened. She became anxious and depressed. Now imagine what this could mean for a woman with no means and no people around her to have her back. And that is why most women choose to keep quiet. They whole lives are at stake. Stop asking women why they don't come forward. This is why. They are treated like criminals.

This film should be mindful that attorneys, acting on the wishes of copyright holders whose materials have been used without permission, have issued demands for immediate editing or deletion. These demands come from the very attorneys who represented the director in the civil lawsuit that features prominently in the film itself. If the attorneys' demands are indeed valid, it may discourage individuals or organizations from supporting evidence collection, even when survivors of sexual abuse bravely come forward. Such an outcome would deliver a severe and lasting blow to efforts to hold perpetrators accountable and secure justice for victims. Should this happen, it would call into question the very purpose for which the film was produced and publicly released.

This is quite an harrowing watch at times whilst we follow Japanese journalist Shiori Itô as she seeks justice for an alleged rape a few years earlier. To be fair, up front, this is not a balanced documentary but a potent video-diary style presentation crafted by the woman herself to not only document the course of her own battle, but also to illustrate just how out-dated the legal processes were in a nation that's legal system still treated women as a possession of a man in many ways. We identify the accused - from whom we do not hear directly or via his representatives, and from there on we focus on her attempts to see him face her accusations. The film now concentrates on the courageous efforts of a woman to see that process of justice done. The laws that inherently obstruct her need to be identified, addressed and replaced so as not to protect, or be seen to protect, any influential people from heinous crimes of any sort. It also goes on to demonstrate quite effectively just how difficult - if you are to adopt the "innocent til proven guilty" approach that underpins so much of the legal system - it is to adequately codify crimes of an intimate nature ensuring that they are to be objectively dealt with. Especially problematic as there are so often no witnesser and/or extensive time lapses between the incident and any attempt at redress. It's also quite potent at illuminating what I feel are the frequently absurd differentiations between the evidence required for a criminal or a civil case. The latter always feels to me that it's more about balance of probability, sometimes even money rather than seeing the rule of law robustly and impartially upheld in the first place. This doesn't provide answers to these complex issues, indeed I suspect there are no straightforward answers - but that anyone has to go through this kind of emotional maelstrom just to get a day in court is something that the public ought to feel disgusted by.

Being a documentary filmmaker is most assuredly hard, but then also being the focus of your own work even more so. But thankfully journalist Shiori Ito is no ordinary creator nor subject. As a bold and brave one-woman powerhouse who decides to get justice or die trying after being assaulted by a high-profile colleague, Ito displays both tenacity (she goes after the police chief with camera Nick Broomfield style!) and vulnerability (her honesty is heartbreaking) that is all but lacking from non-fiction flicks of late. Not to mention her examination and exposing of the Japanese legal system is a real eye-opener to the uninitiated. At a time when docs have become safe, Ito proves bold is better - can't wait to see what she tackles next.