According to Japanese government statistics cited at the beginning of this documentary, about 42,000 children in Japan require “protective care.” Half of these minors live in “children’s homes,” which are not foster homes or orphanages, but they are nevertheless “living separately from” their parents. The reasons vary and include death, illness, abuse, and “financial issues.” The movie basically goes inside one of these children’s homes in Tokyo and profiles several residents who range in age from seven to 14 and also includes one who is about to depart the facility and another who already has. According to regulations, the children must leave the home once they turn 18 (though under special circumstances they can extend their stay). The filmmakers do not mask the faces of the children profiled nor the employees who work in the home, though not much else is revealed about them, and that’s for a reason. Society tends to discriminate against these children because they are growing up in such a facility. 

The bulk of screen time is given over to interviews with the children: how they go about their everyday lives and how they feel about their situation, including their relationships with whatever family members they are in contact with (or, for that matter, not in contact with), as well as their interactions with the staff of the home and students at their schools (they attend regular public schools). They are perceptive and smart, and understand their situation very well. As one child puts its, “What’s normal here is not normal for most people.” The most pressing problem for them is coping with the world once they turn 18 and have to support themselves. Though they have the opportunity to attend university just like anyone else, they obviously don’t have access to the kinds of resources afforded to children who live with their parents, and thus are at a disadvantage when it comes to higher education. 

Director Ryo Takebayashi says in the production notes that he hopes the movie becomes a “good luck charm” for the children he filmed, understanding that they may struggle after they leave the facility. He thinks if they relive the moments he captured then they can “realize they always had the strength to overcome difficulties.” He also wants viewers to see things “they’ve never noticed before, even though they were right under our noses.” In order to protect the children he and the producers have limited the documentary’s exposure to theatrical screenings, meaning no streaming and no physical media for either sale or rent. In addition, the media outlets who report on the movie are asked to include as little information about the children or the facility as possible. All these restrictions fall within the purview of the production but defeat whatever edifying mission the filmmakers have in mind for the material. If these children are so readily subjected to discrimination because of where they grew up, the source of that discrimination should be addressed by the film instead of just being tacitly assumed. When you hide all the particulars of the “children’s home” system, it becomes impossible to discuss anything meaningful about these children’s situation. There is no input from the government officials who authorize the system (which prioritizes the prerogatives of parents, even those who have abused their offspring), nor any comments from social workers whose job it is to place these children in the facility. It’s understandable why parents and others who may have had a hand in the children living in the home do not want to be interviewed or even mentioned, but that doesn’t mean the filmmakers can’t explain what’s behind these decisions in a general way and why exactly these children have to put up with such terrible prejudices. In the end, the documentary is a well-meaning attempt to inform the public of the existence of these facilities, but without understanding why and how they exist, the children become merely victims of a social environment that has failed them. 

In Japanese. Opens Dec. 6 in Tokyo at Kino Cinema Shinjuku (03-5315-0978), Shibuya Parco White Cine Quinto (03-6712-7225).

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