For some time Recession and Urban decay have become the somber reality for many small cites of Japan. They're the ghost towns of depopulation and deindustrialization, with rows of local businesses with shutters closed for good. With the fabled economic miracle long past, it's a common view of any cities outside metropolitan area in Japan, once the most prosperous nation in Asia. Many fled to suburbs but the city central is still populated and alive...with immigrants attracted to the fast deteriorating construction industry for wage labor. They come from other Asian countries like Thailand. Also many of them are the Japanese-Brazilians. Under the harsh circumstances they thrive for survival.

The film's star is the decaying city itself, featuring the actual locals. Rarely depicted in the Japanese cinema history, the film shows you the lives of immigrants. The ever growing communities of the Japanese-Brazilians--the descendents of the Japanese who migrated to Brazil 100 years ago--can no longer be ignored. It's a global issue in the time of the globalization. And the inherent problems of racial, socio-economical and cultural clash are inevitable.

About The Director

TOMITA Tetsuya, born in 1972 at Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. He is currently a member of Kuzoku, an independent film collective with multiple members. Working with another core member of Kuzoku, AIZAWA Toranosuke, Tomita's feature Saudade won him La Montgolfière d’Or at Festival des 3 continents à Nantes in 2011.