Visions - Fall 2017 - 12

CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

Megumi Sasaki

Documentary Filmmaker,
Director "A Whale of a Tale"

ward-winning documentarian Megumi Sasaki, who helmed the touching New York-based portraits Herb & Dorothy
(2008) and Herb & Dorothy 50X50 (2013), recently turned her eye back to Japan to direct a finely balanced film,
A Whale of a Tale, on the frayed topic of Japanese whaling. Instead of images of animal slaughter or beleaguered
fishermen, Sasaki focuses on the town of Taiji's centuries-old cultivated culture, the government's eventual involvement,
and the communications between the town's tight knit community and the tireless foreign activists.

What was the first thing that made you want to come here to the
United States in 1987?
Well, I was traveling in India after I quit my job in Tokyo, and I
had a friend in New York. I was going to just stop by and I had
only $20 left in my pocket. I go to New York, and thank God
my friend let me stay and I found a job immediately after. I was
going to stay, maybe six months or so, but I'm still here.

Having created documentaries about American subjects, you have
now turned your attention to a phenomenon that is very Japanese.
How did that come about?
First of all, I felt that whenever I watch the news about the
Japanese whaling in the South Pacific, it focused on "Japan
is hunting whales again, doing these atrocities." It's extremely
one-sided, and then I was wondering, why is that? Probably
due to a lack of information. In America, for every issue we
hear the opinions of pros and cons, whether it's gun control
or abortion. But we never hear the opposite of these whaling
issues.
When I saw The Cove movie, I was shocked. The camera
and film can be a weapon. It's a very strong medium to reveal
things. But it's different when it's pointed at someone who
is very vulnerable, like fishermen. Documentaries are often
used to reveal the injustice committed by the government, or
a corporation - whoever holds the power. But if you point a
camera to someone who's in a weaker or vulnerable position, like Taiji fishermen, you're just a bully. So I didn't think
The Cove was fair at all. I feel it had parts that were false
and misleading, and the Japanese government should have
pointed that out, but it's all left to that little fishing town of Taiji.
There's a lot of misunderstanding of the Japanese cultures
and the Japanese relationship among humans and animals
and nature. It's extremely different from the Judeo-Christian
culture in the West.

Once you completed your film, how did you feel about the whole
issue? Did you feel any differently when you finished making the
film than you did at the beginning?
I figured out that there is a huge problem from Japan's side to
communicate with the world, especially about this issue.
The Japanese would rather keep quiet instead of expressing themselves, especially in anger or frustration. They don't
do that. They just don't think that is the mature thing to do,
I guess. They can't handle international media and public
relations.
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visions

Fall 2017

Above: Megumi Sasaki during the Q&A for her documentary
at this year's JAPAN CUTS 2017, North America's premiere
showcase for new Japanese film at Japan Society.

What do we learn about this fishing town in your film?
At the very least, I wanted to give a voice to the fishermen
who are labeled as monsters and killers, but have no voice.
They're simply inheriting their family's legacy. This town is
very proud of whaling, with a history of more than 400 years.
That's not just for the food. For example, if you see the family
name, you can still tell what kind of whaling their family is or
was involved in. It's all inherited, along with spirituality and
culture, singing and dancing and prayer. It is, in a way, their
pride and their identity. Many Japanese whaling towns were
economically devastated in the last three decades because
of the lowered demand. So yes, of course, there's something
else to eat, the food can be substituted, but their emotion
or their identity cannot be replaced. The town could have
probably chosen a natural, more organic way to stop whaling
without interference from outside, but it didn't need to be a
symbol of Japanese nationalism, with government and politicians saying, "OK, whaling is a Japanese tradition and eating
whale meat is part of Japanese food culture," even though
Japanese don't eat that much whale anymore. You have
to explain what 'tradition' or 'culture' means to Japanese,
because again, that's very different from the west.

Have the fishermen you interviewed seen the film?
They were the first ones. I told them from the very beginning
of shooting that it was not going to be a pro-whaling film. I
don't like to use the word "neutral" because neutrality is very
tricky, but I told them that it would be a balanced film, that
I'm showing both sides of these issues. They all agree that it's
telling the truth. This is a complicated film, and intentionally
done so because that's the reality. The reality is not simply
black and white.
Sumitomo Corporation of Americas

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Visions - Fall 2017