ABOUT US

  • Established in 1981 as one of the first independent television productions in Japan and has been leading the field of TV documentary.
    The uniqueness of the company is that we are a group of independent creators while a lot are freelancers. Depending on the mission, we form a team with new staff to adjust to any kind of situations. This enables the whole staff to perform the best in their interest thus makes the company be different.
    We work with all the Japanese broadcasters; NHK, TV Asahi, NTV, TBS, TV Tokyo and Fuji TV. We also work with international counterparts'; Canal, Arte, PBS and such. Moreover, we produce feature films for theaters and visual contents for websites as well.

  • The quality of our works has been recognized with many awards domestically and internationally including ATP Grand Prix, The Best Documentary Award by the Ministry of Culture and Science and the Ministry of Communications, Prix Italia and etc.

  • The company is affiliated with a technical company with highly qualified cameraman, sound-recordists and video-engineers. This makes it possible for us to team up with the expertise to perform the best at shootings. We are also affiliated with a post-production company allowing us to do the whole production in-house: pre-production (we have a research department as well), production, and post-production.

  • We do international co-production as well. In 2012, we produced “WOMEN, Keeping the World Turning" with Point du Jour (France). We are currently working on a new project titled, “Colors of Asia 2015: Women in Struggle, paving the way for the future" with production company in Philippines. We are open to any opportunities and would work with any teams worldwide!

  • Our company has been holding a documentary film festival since 2010. It aims to bring TV documentaries and feature films together. We set a theme every year and do screenings of old and new programs and films. We also launch a competition for filmmakers and have discovered some new talent.
    http://zkdf.net/index.html (in Japanese only)

COMPANY INFORMATION

DOCUMENTARY JAPAN, INC
  • TEL +81(3)55703551
  • FAX +81(3)55703550
  • 1F Wako bld,8-12-20, Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

WORKS

  • Recent Television Documentaries

    2011
    “Restavec, Restrained Children in Haiti" (NHK)
    Creative Excellence Award – US International Film and Video Festival
    2009
    “Voices of Life, Radio Broadcast for Abduction Victims in Columbia" (NHK)
    Excellence Award and The Ministry of Internal Affairs Award – ATP Awards
    2008
    “Andrzej Wajda, Filming His Homeland, Poland" (NHK)
    Grand Prix – ATP Awards
    Creative Excellence Award – US International Film and Video Festival
    2007
    “The UMIZARU (rescue divers of Japan Coast Guard)"(TV Asahi)
    Grand Prix – ATP Awards
    2006
    “Testifying Contemporary History;The Hijack Incident in Dacca" (NHK BS-1)
    Excellence Award – ATP Awards
    2004
    “Susana Baca; Black Music in the Andean" (NHK BS-1)
    Excellence Award – ATP Awards
    2003
    “The Diary of Fog, a message from the Aleutian Islands"(TV Asahi)
    Best Picture – JBA Awards
    1998
    “Why Did They Kill Their Neighbors?" (NHK)
    Grand Prix – Prix Italia

  • Feature Films

    2015
    • “We Shall Overcome" (HD,DCP, 130min.)
      A documentary closely following a people's struggle against the construction of a new U.S. military base in Okinawa. It reveals not only their deep sadness and anger but also their warmth and humor.
      http://www.ikusaba.com
    • “Ryuichi Hirokawa: HUMAN BATTLEFIELD" (HD, 100min.)
      A film covering two years of Ryuichi Hirokawa, a 71 year-old photojournalist and the founder of DAYS JAPAN, a monthly photojournalism reviews.
      The film follows Hirokawa visit his origins, Chernobyl and Palestine, and through this we discover the man, and the subjects of his work, what he calls “human battlefields", any place where human dignity is at risk.
    2014
    “Nuclear Nation II" (HD, 114 min.)
    The film follows a new group of people exiled from Futaba, the region occupied by the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
    http://nuclearnation.jp/en/part2/
    2013
    • “The Horses of Fukushima" (HD, 74 min.)
      Winner of Best Film Documentary – Dubai International Film Festival
      A documentary tracing the turbulent fate of a horse that survived the Great East Japan Earthquake
      http://matsurinouma.com
    • “Nuclear Nation" (HD, 96 min.)
      Special Mention Award –SiciliAmbiente Documentary Film Festival
      A documentary about the exile of Futaba's residents, the region housing the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
      http://nuclearnation.jp/en/part1/
    • “Things Left Behind" (HD, 80 min.)
      A film about the first major art exhibit devoted to Hiroshima at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, Canada
      http://www.thingsleftbehindfilm.com
    2012
    “Japan Lies, The Photojournalism of Kikujiro Fukushima" (HD, 114 min.)
    First Rank in Cultural Film –The 86th Kinema Junpo Best 10
    Documentary Film Award – The 67th Mainichi Film Awards
    Cultural Film Best One – Japan Film Pen Club
    The legendary 90-year old photojournalist reveals the truth about Japan through his works of 66 years since Hiroshima
    http://bitters.co.jp/nipponnouso/
    2011
    “Between Today and Tomorrow" (HD, 88min.)
    Documentary of a ballet dancer, Yoshiyuki Shuto
    http://kyo-asu.com
    2008
    “Panda-ful Life" (35mm, 100 min.)
    One-year documentary of panda bears in China
    http://yaplog.jp/pandaful/
    2003
    “Handicapped-ism, We Don't Quit" (16mm, 94 min.)
    Independence of challenged in Japan
    1999
    “Der Ausflug, The Outing" (35mm, 86 min.)
    A story of Outsider artists in Austria