Follows students and their teachers for one year at a public school in Tokyo to unveil how they interact and shape one another.
Which are the distinct attributes sculpting the Japanese identity? What makes you Japanese? In order to figure out the answers, the British Japanese filmmaker closely follows 1st and 6th graders for one year at a public elementary school in Tokyo, as well as their teachers, unveiling how teachers and students interact and shape one another. The outbreak of the pandemic and its restrictions constitute just another controlling measure. The kids in Japan are after all forged by their homeland's culture through a strictly defined education process which is in pursuit, with unwavering focus, of the appropriate equilibrium between individual progress and harmony of the society as a whole. Offering a unique hybrid perspective, the filmmaker critically examines a culture that is equally familiar to her as it is foreign, while she peruses the school environment in terms of an industrial production plant, in which the raw materials for processing are the students.—Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
In April, with cherry blossoms in full bloom, the new school year begins with an entrance ceremony for the incoming 1st graders. As classes start, the 1st graders face discipline and order as they have never before, learning how to line-up, care for their personal safety, clean their own school, and even serve one another lunch.
These 1st graders look at the 6th graders for aspiration. As the eldest grade, they take pride in displaying exemplary behavior for the school community at large, running the school's broadcasting department, replenishing hand soaps in sinks, and coming up with slogans to boost morale. In just a short six years, the 1st graders, who seem so small and clueless, will be in the 6th graders' shoes, with the values instilled a part of who they are.
Throughout the film, we hone in on a few 1st grade and 6th grade students and teachers who become our ensemble cast of characters. Shooting intimate verite with the children at their eye-level to create a larger-than-life effect and emphasize the wonder of life from their perspective, we are with them through the ups and downs of childhood.
For Japan, which must always be prepared for the next natural disaster, an essential part of early childhood education is learning about the limitations of life. During the monthly earthquake drills, the principal tells the students that the best way to prepare is to diligently care for their basic daily tasks - to align their shoes, to take care of their belongings, and to cooperate with one another.
As the school year progresses, the students are challenged by the system. A skipping rope routine for Sports Day is an opportunity for a 6th grade boy to break out of his shell; a music audition brings a 1st grade girl to tears. Teachers also face self-doubt and question how to go about educating the next generation, who seem different from themselves.
As cherry blossom buds appear once again, the 6th graders prepare to leave the nest of childhood, and the 1st graders prepare to be 2nd graders. They have taken their first immeasurable step towards the responsibility and discipline necessary to become members of Japanese society. As another year goes by, we wonder how what we have experienced will impact the future of the world we live in.
