A Japanese engineer is sent to Africa to complete a project but is unprepared for the alien culture he encounters with unfortunate consequences for one of his workers
18 January 2006
"Bwana Toshi" is a standout film in the sense it is about interracial (or inter-cultural) misunderstanding but has no white characters. It is about a Japanese engineer who goes to an African country to develop a project but lacks any comprehension of the people he will depend on to carry it out. A old story, told from a slightly different angle. Asian man gets it wrong in Africa, instead of English man getting it wrong in India, etc. The journey to understanding people different from himself does not come easy to Toshi but it comes, along with self-understanding.

This is a beautiful but, regrettably, rarely seen film. I doubt it is available on DVD but hope it someday will be, so I can share it with others. Like the best of Japanese cinema, it is a life-affirming film
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