Shiori Ito’s feature documentary “Black Box Diaries” about the investigation of the director’s own sexual assault, earned a standing ovation following its Hot Docs Canadian premiere on Monday.
The 103-minute film tracks Ito’s arduous, five-year struggle to bring to justice renowned TV reporter Noriyuki Yamaguchi, who sexually assaulted her. In 2015, Ito – then a 26-year-old intern at Thomson Reuters – went out for a drink with Yamaguchi, only to become intoxicated and taken against her will to his hotel room.
In Japan, according to the film, only 4% of victims of rape report their cases to police. But Ito “felt a strong desire for the truth to be known and to change Japanese society in order to prevent what happened to me from happening to more women.”
In 2017, Ito’s memoir about the rape, titled “Black Box,” was published and went on to win the Free Press Association of Japan...
The 103-minute film tracks Ito’s arduous, five-year struggle to bring to justice renowned TV reporter Noriyuki Yamaguchi, who sexually assaulted her. In 2015, Ito – then a 26-year-old intern at Thomson Reuters – went out for a drink with Yamaguchi, only to become intoxicated and taken against her will to his hotel room.
In Japan, according to the film, only 4% of victims of rape report their cases to police. But Ito “felt a strong desire for the truth to be known and to change Japanese society in order to prevent what happened to me from happening to more women.”
In 2017, Ito’s memoir about the rape, titled “Black Box,” was published and went on to win the Free Press Association of Japan...
- 4/30/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
In the middle of Black Box Diaries, journalist Shiori Ito’s debut documentary, Ito grins at the camera as she strolls through downtown Tokyo on the day of her book launch. It’s October 18, 2017. The New York Times broke the Harvey Weinstein news two weeks ago. Alyssa Milano popularized the hashtag #MeToo two days ago. Ito, fresh-faced and 28, happily recounts these events to the camera. The world may finally be ready to listen to her.
It’s hard to imagine a time before the #MeToo genie was let out of its bottle, but that’s what Ito asks of viewers as they journey back with her to 2015, when she says she was raped by a senior journalist with connections to then-president Shinzo Abe. Through an incredible amount of personal documentation––primarily videos, audio recordings, and journal entries––she grants viewers unprecedented access into her experience as a woman seeking justice for sex crimes in Japan.
It’s hard to imagine a time before the #MeToo genie was let out of its bottle, but that’s what Ito asks of viewers as they journey back with her to 2015, when she says she was raped by a senior journalist with connections to then-president Shinzo Abe. Through an incredible amount of personal documentation––primarily videos, audio recordings, and journal entries––she grants viewers unprecedented access into her experience as a woman seeking justice for sex crimes in Japan.
- 1/29/2024
- by Lena Wilson
- The Film Stage
In Black Box Diaries, director Shiori Ito confronts abuse but also a deeply flawed legal system. Her quest for justice begins in spring 2015. Then a young intern at Thomson Reuters, Ito found herself in a nightmarish situation with Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a prominent media figure with political connections in Japan. At the time, he worked at the Tokyo Broadcasting System Television and was the personal biographer for Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan.
After she reported a sexual assault incident against Yamaguchi she was met with formidable challenges, as she navigated a legal system steeped in outdated laws that placed burden of proof on the victims. Ito’s struggle was not just against her assailant but also against a societal framework that silences survivors. Facing public slander, character assassination and the daunting reality of confronting Yamaguchi, she had no idea that acting as an investigative journalist for her own...
After she reported a sexual assault incident against Yamaguchi she was met with formidable challenges, as she navigated a legal system steeped in outdated laws that placed burden of proof on the victims. Ito’s struggle was not just against her assailant but also against a societal framework that silences survivors. Facing public slander, character assassination and the daunting reality of confronting Yamaguchi, she had no idea that acting as an investigative journalist for her own...
- 1/28/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
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