DOCUMENTARY
Laugh It Away and Say Goodbye
DOCUMENTARY
2010
55 min Episode(s): 1
English
English
English
English
Winner of Best News Documentary at Monte-Carlo TV Festival 2011
Grand Prize at The Age of Regionalism Video Festival 2011
Grand Prize at “Era of Local” TV Festival 2010
Small and medium-sized businesses are the back bones of Japan that support the economy from the bottom-up. However, as work decreased sharply after the Lehman Shock, many life changes were in order for smaller businesses.
Without the work of numerous subcontractors, the manufacturing of Toyota cars, Japan’s top brand, would simply not be possible.
This documentary takes an up-close and personal look at a tiny Toyota subcontractor, four steps down the supply chain. In a 7.5 square-meter factory, the owner, a lively 56 year old woman, works with two other housewives who live nearby. This work consists of gluing small parts together.
All seems well in this cozy factory until one day in the fall of 2008, a global recession is triggered by the fall of Lehman Brothers. Suddenly, sales of Toyota cars dry up.
How does the owner of this tiny factory deal with the crisis?
Despite the grim reality, the factory is always filled with laughter.
What can we learn from this upbeat story of business closure?
Grand Prize at The Age of Regionalism Video Festival 2011
Grand Prize at “Era of Local” TV Festival 2010
Small and medium-sized businesses are the back bones of Japan that support the economy from the bottom-up. However, as work decreased sharply after the Lehman Shock, many life changes were in order for smaller businesses.
Without the work of numerous subcontractors, the manufacturing of Toyota cars, Japan’s top brand, would simply not be possible.
This documentary takes an up-close and personal look at a tiny Toyota subcontractor, four steps down the supply chain. In a 7.5 square-meter factory, the owner, a lively 56 year old woman, works with two other housewives who live nearby. This work consists of gluing small parts together.
All seems well in this cozy factory until one day in the fall of 2008, a global recession is triggered by the fall of Lehman Brothers. Suddenly, sales of Toyota cars dry up.
How does the owner of this tiny factory deal with the crisis?
Despite the grim reality, the factory is always filled with laughter.
What can we learn from this upbeat story of business closure?
Customers who watch this video also watch
-
Kiraigo -800 Years of Performing Hell Theater-
2018 30 mins[Festivals of Japan Season 2] The stage is set in hell. Demons curse and berate the sinner who has committed a terrible crime. The only play in Japan ever to be set in hell, the "Kiraigo" of Yokoshibahikari Town, Chiba Prefecture, has had a history of 800 years. Yet despite...more details -
Tracking the Snipe God -Two Stories of the Latham's Snipe-
2017 55 mins“Ojishigi” (the Latham Snipe) is a small bird that travels between Hokkaido and Australia. Through many years of study, it was discovered that they mate in Hokkaido during summer in the northern hemisphere and travel all the way to Australia to spend the summer in the southern hemisphere. But their...more details -
Colors in Japan
2021 25 minJapan's landscape overflows with various colors from its four seasons. This array of rich "coloring" is presented in vivid 4K through the stories of traditional arts and crafts that symbolize the regions across the country from which they were born. Episode List (click title to preview): 1. Paint It Black!...more details -
Rene's Swimming Gems: the Nishiki Koi- Nagaoka, Niigata
2019 30 mins[Beauty of Japan Season 2] The Nishiki Koi boasts a beauty that earns it its nickname, "the Swimming Gem". In Nagaoka City in Niigata, many of the koi fish bred there are sold to Western and Asian countries and attract the attention of Japanese koi fish lovers from all over...more details