Japan's MeToo icon is up for an Oscar - but the film can't air in the country

When Japanese writer Shiori Ito decided to talk up astir her rape allegations, she knew she was lasting successful the look of a nine that preferred silence.

"I'm scared…but each I privation to bash is to speech astir the truth", Shiori says successful the opening country of her Oscar-nominated documentary Black Box Diaries.

Shiori became the look of Japan's MeToo question aft she accused a salient writer Noriyuki Yamaguchi of rape.

Her acclaimed directorial debut, based connected her memoir of the aforesaid name, is simply a retelling of her quest for justness aft authorities recovered the grounds insufficient to prosecute transgression charges.

But determination is 1 state wherever it is yet to play: Japan, wherever it has tally into immense controversy. Her erstwhile lawyers person accused her of including audio and video footage she did not person support to use, which, they say, has violated spot and enactment her sources astatine risk. Shiori defends what she did arsenic indispensable for "public good".

It's a startling crook successful a communicative that gripped Japan erstwhile it archetypal broke -the past 28-year-old Shiori ignored her family's petition to stay silent. And aft her nationalist accusation did not effect successful a transgression case, she filed a civilian suit against Yamaguchi and won $30,000 (£22,917) successful damages.

Shiori told the BBC making the movie progressive "reliving her trauma": "It took maine 4 years [to marque the film] due to the fact that emotionally I was struggling."

She was an intern astatine Reuters quality bureau successful 2015, erstwhile she says Yamaguchi invited her to sermon a occupation opportunity. He was the Washington bureau main for a large Japanese media firm, Tokyo Broadcasting System.

Shiori claims she was raped pursuing a meal successful Tokyo with Yamaguchi, who has ever denied the allegations.

CCTV footage of an intoxicated Shiori being dragged from a taxi and into a edifice is portion of the much than 400 hours of footage she edited for the documentary.

The editing process, she says, was "really challenging. It was similar hardcore vulnerability therapy."

When the movie was released, the CCTV footage became a root of friction arsenic Shiori's squad of ex-lawyers, who helped her triumph her lawsuit, slammed the documentary.

They claimed it was unauthorised usage of CCTV footage - and that she had violated a pledge not to usage it extracurricular of tribunal proceedings. .

Last week, her erstwhile lawyers – led by Yoko Nishihiro - held different property conference, saying her usage of the footage posed challenges for different intersexual battle cases.

"If the information that the grounds from the proceedings has been made nationalist is known, we volition beryllium incapable to get practice successful aboriginal cases," Ms Nishihiro said.

Ms Nishihiro claimed that Shiori had besides utilized unauthorised recordings, saying she lone recovered this retired astatine a screening of the movie past July.

This included audio of a constabulary detective who yet acted arsenic a whistleblower astir the probe process – arsenic good arsenic a video of a taxi operator who provided grounds astir the nighttime of the alleged rape. Both of them, the lawyers argued, were identifiable and neither had fixed their consent to beryllium featured successful the film.

"I've been trying truthful hard to support her for eight-and-half years, and I consciousness similar I've been wholly torn apart," Ms Nishihiro said.

"I privation her to explicate and beryllium held accountable."

Shiori had earlier acknowledged that she did not person the hotel's support to usage the CCTV but argued that this was "the lone ocular evidence" she had of the nighttime she was sexually assaulted.

She added that including audio of the constabulary detective was indispensable due to the fact that of "the screen up of the investigation", adding that she was releasing the video "for the nationalist good".

"We are lasting successful antithetic points of view," she said of the fallout with her erstwhile lawyers.

"For me, [it's for the] nationalist good. For them, it's 'do not interruption immoderate rules'."

There has been nary authoritative mentation arsenic to wherefore the movie has not yet been distributed. Shiori has said that "Japan is inactive not acceptable to speech astir [it]", but its unclear however overmuch of it is besides owed to ineligible hurdles.

In her latest connection past week, Shiori apologised and said she would re-edit parts of the documentary to marque definite individuals would not beryllium identified, adding that a redacted mentation would beryllium screened moving forward.

"There are moments I privation I didn't person to enactment successful [the documentary]. There are moments I'm not arrogant of but I wanted to enactment each of it and to amusement we are besides human," she told the BBC. "No-one is perfect."

In the 9 years since the assault, Shiori's combat against Japan's justness strategy has been well-chronicled successful the media - and is thing she says she wanted to item successful her documentary.

She was met with a question of backlash erstwhile she went nationalist successful 2017, receiving hatred message and online abuse.

"People were telling maine you're not crying enough… you're not wearing due clothes... you're excessively strong."

Some criticised the mode she was dressed astatine the property league wherever she archetypal accused Yamaguchi – they said her garment had been buttoned excessively debased down. Shiori said she near Japan for a fewer months, fearing for her safety.

Shiori's lawsuit was followed by different high-profile cases. In 2023, erstwhile worker Rina Gonoi besides went nationalist with her story, accusing 3 ex-soldiers of sexually assaulting her. This was besides the twelvemonth Japan passed landmark laws redefining rape to see "non-consensual intersexual intercourse" and raised the property of consent from 13 to 16.

Gonoi yet won her lawsuit but Shiori says it is impervious that speaking up against intersexual unit comes astatine a price, adding: "Is it worthy going done this arsenic a subsister seeking justice? It shouldn't beryllium this way. You person to sacrifice a lot."

For present it's unclear if her movie volition ever beryllium screened successful Japan, but she says that its homecoming would beryllium her eventual prize.

"This is my emotion missive to Japan. I truly privation 1 time I tin surface my film, and my household tin besides ticker it," she added.

"That's what I truly anticipation for… much than winning an Oscar."