Review: ‘Black Box Diaries,’ starring Shiori Itō

October 26, 2024

by Carla Hay

Shiori Itō in “Black Box Diaries” (Photo courtesy of MTV Documentary Films)

“Black Box Diaries”

Directed by Shiori Itō

Japanese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Japan from 2017 to 2019, the documentary film “Black Box Diaries” (based partially on the 2017 non-fiction book “Black Box”) features an all-Japanese group of people representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy who are connected in some way to the rape case of political journalist Shiori Itō.

Culture Clash: Itō, who accused a fellow journalist of raping her in 2015 while she was too intoxicated to consent, faced many obstacles in getting justice, including her accused rapist having a close alliance with Shinzo Abe, who was Japan’s prime minister at the time.

Culture Audience: “Black Box Diaries” will appeal mainly to people who are interested in highly personal documentaries about getting justice for crimes.

Shiori Itō in “Black Box Diaries” (Photo courtesy of MTV Documentary Films)

“Black Box Diaries” is director Shiori Itō’s courageous and harrowing chronicle of getting justice for her rape case. The documentary is a blistering takedown of a very flawed legal system that Itō battled in her case, against seemingly insurmountable odds. It’s also a story of how rape survivors are further harmed by victim blaming from people who don’t know all the facts and are quick to assume that rape survivors are usually lying. “Black Box Diaries” had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival (where “Black Box Diaries” won the Human Rights Award) and also screened at the 2024 editions of the SXSW Film & TV Festival and CPH:DOX.

Itō (who was born in 1989) is a Tokyo-based political journalist who says she was raped by TV journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi (who was born in 1966) at the Sheraton Hotel in Tokyo’s Ebisu part of the Shibuya ward, on April 4, 2015. At the time, Itō was a Thomson Reuters intern, and Yamaguchi was Tokyo Broadcast System’s Washington bureau chief. Itō says she was too intoxicated to give consent. Yamaguchi denies the accusations and say that he and Itō had consensual sex that night.

“Black Box Diaries” has hotel security video from that night that gives more credence to Itō’s side of the story. Itō and Yamaguchi are shown emerging from a taxi outside the hotel in the hotel’s front driveway. Yamaguchi is forcefully pulling Itō out of the back of the taxi, while a male hotel employee stands by and looks unsure of what to do. (This hotel employee, who is not named in the movie, later makes an impactful statement to Itō that brings her to tears.)

The video shows that Itō can barely walk and has to be almost propped up by Yamaguchi. Security video from inside the hotel shows Yamaguchi walking Itō trhough the lobby and to an elevator. According to court testimony, Itō says that Yamaguchi took her to his hotel room and raped her while she drifted in and out of consciousness and was too physically weak to fight back. Itō says she didn’t remember much of the encounter until hours later. She suspects that she had been drugged without her consent and gained back her memory after the effects of any alleged drugs wore off.

Itō reported the crime to the Tokyo Police Department, which discouraged her from filing charges because they told Itō that her case would be hard to prove. “Black Box Diaries” includes secret recordings that she made during her interview with an uncaring police investigator who is only identified in the documentary as Investigator A. This callous investigator says a lot of things that aren’t supposed to be said by a responsible and professional investigator of rape/sexual assault, such as suggesting that Itō might be partially responsible for this reported crime because she was intoxicated when it happened. It’s typical victim blaming.

Itō did not have a choice in pursuing justice in a criminal court because Tokyo Police Department decided to close the investigation. Instead, Itō held a press conference to speak out against this injustice. Footage from the press conference footage is included in “Black Box Diaries.”

In the press conference, Itō says she’s using her work as a journalist to protect herself against those who will accuse her of lying. When asked why she’s giving a press conference to talk about this rape accusation, she says the typical expectation of a rape victim is for the victim to be sad and hide from embarrassment. “I had a problem with this norm,” Itō says in the press conference. “I have nothing to hide. If I don’t speak now, the law will not change. That’s why I’m coming forward.

In 2017, Itō wrote a non-fiction book called “Black Box” and to document the ongoing investigation of her rape case as she pursued legal action against Yamaguchi by filing a civil lawsuit against him. Itō also became an activist to change Japan’s outdated rape laws, whch stated at the time that Japan’s legal definition of rape had to include assault and intimidation. The title of the book is based on how a prosecutor stonewalled Itō about her case by making this comment: “Because it’s a black box, we don’t really know what’s happening.” Itō says of this comment: “It tells everything about our justice system and how it’s not working.”

“Black Box Diaries” (which was filmed from 2017 to 2019) is an extension of the “Black Box” book, by having entries from the book (often as handwritten captions on the screen), as well as a lot of behind-the-scenes and personal footage of Itō quest for justice. She also has to deal with bullying and hate from many different people (usually online and in the media), who shame her because they don’t believe she’s telling the truth. Itō keeps her dignity throughout, but there are times when she understandably reaches her emotional breaking point when things look particularly bleak, and there are obstacles in her way. A low point happens when Itō ends up in a hospital for a reason that is revealed in the documentary.

Itō believes that the Tokyo Police Department discontinued the investigation into her rape because Yamaguchi had a close alliance with Shinzo Abe, who was Japan’s prime minister at the time. Abe was a close associate of Itaru Nakamura, who was the acting chief of Tokyo Police Department at the time. Yamaguchi wrote a flattering biography of the politically conservative Abe, and this book was published two weeks before the prosecutors dropped the rape case against him Yamaguchi for “insufficient evidence.” In addition to often getting privileged media access to Abe, Yamaguchi had other high-ranking political connections that Itō believes shielded Yamaguchi from being arrested and prosecuted in criminal court for this case.

Itō couldn’t help but feel paranoid when she found out that she was being spied on and followed by unnamed people. The documentary shows how she temporarily moved out of her apartment because of this stalking. She has some close friends who are her support system. These friends are shown in the documentary but are not identified by name.

Itō admits that her family members (who are not in the documentary) were upset when they found out that she wrote the “Black Box” book, which Itō’s book publisher warns her could be blocked by Yamaguchi from being published if real names are used in the book. Itō admits that by writing this book, “I know I’m putting them [my family] in danger.” Itō also got backlash from strangers who accused her of trying to cash in on her accusations by writing the “Black Box” book.

“Black Box Diaries” has an intimate and deliberate tone that might be too slow and too quiet for people who expect true crime documentaries to be slick and fast-paced. There are no crusading attorneys or tabloid media spectacles in this documentary. It’s a vividly candid look at one woman’s emotionally painful journey to seek justice, which involves a lot of suffering—but it’s suffering that is not done in silence, and it’s suffering that can lead to the greater good for any other rape survivors who also seek justice.

MTV Documentary Films released “Black Box Diaries” in New York City on October 25, 2024, with an expansion to more U.S. cities on November 1, 2024.

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