Added to inquiry!
DOCUMENTARY

Laugh It Away and Say Goodbye

DOCUMENTARY 2010 55 min Episode(s): 1 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?

Click here to preview the program!

  •  

    MAHOROBA ASUKA - Japan's Ancient Capital -
    2023 52 minutes

    Japan’s capital 1400 years ago, Asuka is one of its oldest villages and a symbol of its intrinsic beauty. In recognition of its special history, a law was established to preserve the natural environment of the village. This documentary, filmed over the span of a year, captures Asuka’s beauty in...
    more details
  •  

    "Little Yuna" - His Daughter's Legacy after the Great East Japan Earthquake -
    2024

    2025 WordMediaFestivals Siver 2025 New York Festivals Silver Norio Kimura, who lost his wife and father in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster and whose 7-year-old daughter, Yuna, remained missing until a bone fragment was found nearly six years later due to nuclear zone restrictions, now channels...
    more details
  •  

    Shiretoko Peninsula
    2002

    2002 New York Festival Awards. Nature and Wildlife Documentary: Silver Medal Into the Sea of Okhotsk, off the northern Japan’s island of Hokkaido, protrudes the Shiretoko Peninsula. The severe nature of the peninsula deters human intrusion and development. With no roads reaching the edge of the peninsula, it seems more...
    more details
  •  

    The Traditional Uses of "Red" (Kyoto)
    2021 25 minutes

    [Colors in Japan] “Kyobenirouge”, made from selected safflowers, has been a traditional craft and widely used throughout Kyoto City since ancient times. It is known for being very pleasing to the eye. Click here to preview this episode! Part of the "Colors in Japan" series!
    more details