Shiori Ito: The Memon in Japan is for an Oscar

When Japanese journalist Shiori decided to talk about his allegations of rape, he knew he was standing in the face of a society that supported silence.

“I’m afraid … but all I want to do is talk about the truth”, Shiori said to open scene of his oscar-nominated documentary black box.

Shiori became the face of MEMA in Japan after he accused a famous noriyuki yamaguchi reporter.

His recognized debut director, based on his memoir of the same name, a resemblance of his search for justice after the authorities found criminals.

But there is a country where it will play: Japan, where it runs a lot of controversy. His former lawyers accused him of attaching the audio and video that he had no longer allowed, that they said, violating the basis. Shiori protects what he does as needed for “public good”.

This is a strange turn of a story that breaks Japan in the first blow – the 28-year-old Shiori doesn’t pay attention to his family’s request. And after his public charges did not result in a criminal case, he filed the civil case against Yamaguchi and won $ 30,000 (£ 22,917).

Shiori tells the film to be involved in the “comfort of his trauma”: “I took four years (to make the film) because of emotional way I was struggling.”

He was an intern at Reuters News Agency in 2015, when he said Yamaguchi invited him to talk about work opportunity. She is the chief of Washington Bureau People for a leading Japanese media company, Tokyo broadcasting system.

Shiori admits he was raped after a Tokyo dinner with Yamaguchi, who often denied the allegations.

The CCTV footage of a drunken shiori dragged from a taxi and a hotel about over 400 hours of footage he has edited for documentary.

The edit process, he says, is “very difficult. It’s like hardcore exposure therapy.”

If the film is released, the FCTV footage becomes a friction source like Shiori’s team of ex-abogadoters, helping him win his case.

They claim to be unauthorized use of CCTV footage – and that he violates a vow not to use it outside court court. .

Last week, his former lawyers – told Yoko Nishihiro – held another press conference, who told his use of footage challenges for other sexual attack cases.

“If the fact that evidence from the test is informed of the public, we cannot obtain cooperation in future cases,” Nishihiro said.

Ms Nishihiro claimed that Shiori also used unauthorized recordings, he said he found it in a film screening in July in July.

It includes audio in a police detective that finally acts as a whistleblower about the investigation process – as well as a taxi driver who provides proof of the night of the evening. Both of them, lawyers reasoned, recognizable and did not give their consent to show the film.

“I was so hard to protect him for eight and a half years, and I felt like I was completely broken,” Nishihiro said.

“I want him to explain and accountable.”

Shiori first acknowledged that he had no hotel permission to use CCTV but argued that it was “a visual evidence” at night he was sexually attacked.

He added that the police detective audio is required for “covering the investigation”, increases that he released the video “for courtesy”.

“We stood at different points of view,” he said to the fall of his former lawyers.

“For me, (this is for) public well. For them, it ‘doesn’t break any rules’.”

There is no official explanation of why the film has not been distributed. Shiori said “Japan is not ready to talk about (it)”, but it is unclear what it is because of legal flowings.

In his latest statement last week, Shiori apologizes and said he will also edit the documentary parts to identify individuals unknown, add that a refaced version can be screoned ahead.

“There were times when I wanted I didn’t have to put (the documentary). There were times when I wasn’t so proud of” no one completely. “

In nine years since the attack, Shiori’s fight against Japan’s justice is well dependent on media – and something he wants to deserve detailed in his documentary.

He was met with a wave of backlash when he managed 2017, received the hate of mail and abuse online.

“People tell me that you don’t have enough crying … you don’t wear a right coat … you’re so strong.”

Some criticized the way he was wearing the press conference where he first accused Yamaguchi – they said his clothes were very low. Shiori said he left Japan for a few months, feared his salvation.

Shiori’s case is followed by other high-profile cases. In 2023, former soldiers Rina Gonoi also ruled the public in his story, accusing three ex-soldiers of sexual assault him. This is the year that Japan passes landmarks to change rape from “compulsory sex” in “unresponsive sexual intercourse” and increases age to agree from 13 to 16.

Finally Gonai won his case but Shiori said that speaking against sexual violence comes in a price looking for justice? It doesn’t have to be sacrificed. “

For now it is unclear if his film is being held in Japan, but he said his homecoming his most real prize.

“It’s my love letter to Japan. I want to be a day I can screen my movie, and my family can watch it,” he added.

“That’s what I hope … more than win an oscar.”