By In an opening scene of “Black Box Diaries,” journalist Shiori Ito is talking into the camera in a video diary. “I have a chance to talk about the truth… which has been ignored,” she says. This previews the narrative style Ito shares throughout the Academy Award-nominated documentary, where she turns the lens on herself to investigate the man who sexually assaulted her.
In April 2015, Ito, then a 25-year-old intern at Thomson Reuters, met Noriyuki Yamaguchi, the Washington DC bureau chief of the Tokyo Broadcasting System for dinner to discuss a possible job opportunity. In the documentary, Ito recounts how she can’t remember anything from that night after suddenly getting ill during the meal. She only remembers waking up in a hotel room hours later to Yamaguchi sexually assaulting her. Two years later, Ito went public about the assault and was met with vilification and backlash. At the time, only a few colleagues showed support and only one media outlet covered the story.
Over the next five years, Ito tried to piece together what happened that night and hold her rapist accountable as she sought justice. Through video diaries, CCTV footage, and phone recordings, Ito recounts the traumatic ordeal in the nearly two-hour documentary released last year.
“In this story I was a journalist and a survivor. And because of that, I questioned myself many times whether it was okay to look into my own case,” Ito says.
In 2019, Ito won a lawsuit against Yamaguchi, which found him liable for sexual assault despite his denials. The court also dismissed a counter-suit by him claiming defamation by Ito. Three years later, Japan’s Supreme Court upheld a high court decision that there had been sexual intercourse without consent and directed Yamaguchi to pay her more than US$30,000 in damages.
Shiori Ito speaking in New York in February 2025. Image: Courtesy of Think Film Impact Production
The film, which has not yet been shown in Japan, has resonated with audiences all over the world. In the lead-up to the 69th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the Japan Society hosted a reception in New York City, bringing together policymakers, journalists, and experts to discuss the film’s call to action in holding perpetrators accountable and supporting survivors of sexual violence.
“We’re hoping that in the US, the film will help hold accountable corruption and abuse of power that is happening in many facets of society,” says Meredith Goldberg-Morse from MTV Documentary Films, the documentary’s US distributor. “It’s also about empowering the next generation of women in journalism so that these stories continue to be told.”
According to a 2017 survey, only 4% of sexual assault cases in Japan are reported to authorities. Police were initially dismissive of Ito’s case, and after going through a humiliating reporting process — which included reenacting her rape with a life-size doll in front of police officers — she decided not to pursue charges.
That’s when she realized she had to dig deeper to provide as much evidence as she could about what Yamaguchi had done to her that night. Her investigation gave life to an award-winning memoir, “Black Box,” and, subsequently, her documentary about the assault. Ito talked to GIJN about the investigative process involved in her reporting.
Journalist as Subject
For Ito, the biggest question she faced was whether she could face this investigation as a survivor, journalist, and director. She battled with the tension of working within the tenets of traditional, so-called objective journalism while also being the film’s main subject. “Sometimes because you are the subject and you are the closest, that is an advantage,” Ito says.
But Ito also acknowledges the extreme vulnerability of laying her trauma bare and not being a neutral, third party to the story. There are several scenes where she shows that vulnerability, including moments where she is reading hate mail as well as having derogatory names yelled at her outside the court.
After eight grueling years of producing the film, Ito isn’t sure she wants to return to journalism. “I’ve been talking to my journalist friends, and we kind of started saying that we do need more personal perspective journalism,” Ito explains. “Especially in today’s world, we need more of a personal perspective investigative story, because otherwise who would do it? Who else can do it?”
Importance of Collaboration
Collaboration was key to Ito’s investigative process when working on the documentary. “You need collaborators to edit,” she says. “Editors have a completely objective third eye, which is very helpful.”
And for journalists working on a high-risk investigation, Ito emphasizes that collaboration is even more crucial. Facing indifference in Japan, she says “international support was the lifeline for this documentary.”
She also emphasizes the importance of teamwork, especially in a situation where the story challenges local or cultural taboos about speaking out. In “Black Box Diaries,” Ito is in constant conversation and consultation with other journalists, editors, and producers, both in Japan and London, where she was forced to relocate. “Always find possible international collaborators when topics are hard to talk about in your country,” she says.
Document Everything
Throughout, it was important to document the entire process, even the difficult scenes, including collecting footage of her most vulnerable moments.
“When you deal with trauma, you forget so many things, so always record what’s happening around you,” Ito explains. In the documentary, we see her recording several conversations with the investigators and officials, often with the recorder hidden in her clothing. Without that thorough documentation, Ito doesn’t think she could have written the book or produced the film.
In one scene, Ito and other producers track down Itaru Nakamura, the chief of police who dismissed her case, by trying to catch him outside his home. Although Nakamura drives away, the footage of Ito banging on his car window trying to get answers is a powerful testimony to a journalist’s relentless task of seeking answers and holding public officials accountable.
“Because we had the journalistic background, we never stopped recording, we never stopped asking questions,” Ito says, as she reflects on that moment. However, the use of some recording in the film has also created legal challenges for her, with her former lawyers accusing Ito of using footage and recordings without permission from sources.
On February 20, Ito released a statement apologizing to those featured in the documentary without their permission, according to a report by The Japan Times. She also mentioned that a new version of the film would be released where some sources would not be identifiable.
Producing in Multimedia Format
When Ito published her memoir about the assault in 2017, many people said her experience helped spark the #MeToo movement in Japan. But writing the book was a lonely journey for Ito, who recounts the harassment that ultimately forced her to leave Japan. However, the collaborative process of putting the film together made the journey more tolerable, especially with the support of international producers.
Initially, she tried to enlist other journalists in Japan who were willing to tell her story, but faced pushback from their editors who mostly feared retaliation by Yamaguchi, a friend of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. By directing her own film, she felt like she had more agency over the production and editing process. Her goal in pursuing visual storytelling was for people to experience the story viscerally.
“There are some things that are just hard to talk about in writing, that you can only bring out through documentary,” she notes. Ito encourages other survivors to use a storytelling medium they are most comfortable with, but to be flexible in exploring other reporting formats.
As “Black Box Diaries” pushes towards the Oscars, rights groups are highlighting the timeliness of the film. “The film highlights why there are so many obstacles… why there are challenges with reporting sexual abuse in the workplace,” says Minky Worden, from Human Rights Watch. “We are going backwards when it comes to women’s rights. So, this film is very important right now.”
So far, Ito’s reporting has pushed some policy shift. In 2023, Japan raised the age of consent from 13 to 16, and expanded the definition of rape from “forcible sexual intercourse” to “nonconsensual sexual intercourse.” The law now includes victims who are impaired by alcohol or drugs, who are coerced by someone in a position of authority, and who are unable to voice their refusal due to being in a state of shock.
In the final scene of “Black Box Diaries” Ito and a friend are in a car, singing along triumphantly to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” While her mood in the scene quickly shifts from exhilaration to sadness as she slumps in her seat, she says making the documentary was itself an act of defiance.
“I want to encourage other survivors to tell their story in their own language, because it’s very empowering,” she says. “Own your story and be the one to tell your own story.”
