Episode 14 of the Japan Station podcast is here and this time we’re learning about Brazilians in Japan.
Released in 2017, One Day We Arrived in Japan is a gripping documentary that follows the lives of three Brazilian families who move to Japan in search of a better future. Ten years in the making, One Day We Arrived in Japan is a truly unique documentary that sheds light on the often overlooked and misunderstood community of Brazilians that call Japan home.
This episode of Japan Station features the three core members of the team that made One Day We Arrived in Japan. These include: Aaron Litvin (director, producer, cinematographer), Ana Paula Kojima Hirano (director, cinematographer, editor), and Marlom Meirelles (producer, creative consultant, editor).
In this episode we discuss:
- What led to the creation of One Day We Arrived in Japan
- The history of Brazilian immigration to Japan and its status today
- Ana Paula’s experiences in both Japan and Brazil as a Brazilian of Japanese descent
- How Aaron and Ana Paula found families willing to be filmed
- The difficult editing process that Marlom went through
- Why it is so difficult for Brazilians to adjust to life in Japan
- And more.
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Extra Stuff
You can watch One Day We Arrived in Japan for 99 cents on Vimeo. Just hit the image below for more details.
For more information on One Day We Arrived in Japan, visit the movie’s official website via the button below.
www.onedaywearrivedinjapan.com
And finally, just in case you’d like to learn more about the guests featured in this episode, here are some short profiles for each of them.
Aaron Litvin
Director / Producer / Cinematographer / Editor
Aaron Litvin spent 30 months in Brazil and 30 months in Japan during pre-production and production of One Day We Arrived in Japan. Litvin graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Latin American Studies, earned an M.S. in Sociology from the University of São Paulo, and is a Ph.D. candidate in Luso-Brazilian literature and Critical Media Practice at Harvard University. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil and a Japanese Government Research Scholar at Sophia University in Tokyo.
Ana Paula Kojima Hirano
Director / Cinematographer / Editor
Ana Paula Kojima Hirano spent two years in Brazil and one year in Japan during pre-production and production of One Day We Arrived in Japan. Hirano earned her undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of São Paulo, where she researched global labor market transformations and also studied visual anthropology and cinema. She studied at Sophia University in Tokyo on a Japanese Government Scholarship, and she is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Luso-Brazilian literature and film theory at Harvard University.
Marlom Meirelles
PRODUCER / CREATIVE CONSULTANT / EDITOR
Marlom Meirelles has produced and directed several award-winning films. His short film The Bricked Girl (A Emparedada da Rua Nova) was screened at Cannes and other international film festivals. Meirelles won a script competition with a project entitled Among Women (Entre Mulheres, 2012), a documentary on women’s rights and gender. In 2015 he produced and directed the short film Button Eyes (Olhos de Botão), a fictional suspense/thriller set near his hometown in the countryside of Pernambuco, Brazil.
Special Thanks
Opening/Closing song: Oedo Controller (大江戸コントローラー) by Yunomi featuring Toriena (Used with permission from Yunomi)
To listen to more of Yunomi’s music, check out his Soundcloud page or YouTube channel.
Japan Station cover art: Provided by Erik R.
Images: Courtesy of One Day We Arrived in Japan Website
