Junji Sakamoto
OKIKU AND THE WORLD
Japan, 2022, 90 min
In the mid-19th century, Okiku, a young woman, lives in a tenement row house among ordinary people in the sprawling city of Edo – known as Tokyo today. Okiku lives with her father, Genbei, a former samurai, now reduced to a penniless ronin, whom she supports by teaching children to read and write in a temple school. Two Manure Men, Yasuke, and his newly recruited partner, Chuji, regularly visit Okiku’s tenement to collect the human manure from the outhouse the tenants share. Okiku, a young woman in her prime, seems to take a special interest in Chuji.
Junji Sakamoto
Born in Osaka in 1954. While studying in university, he participated in productions of directors such as Sogo Ishii (Gakuryu) and Kazuyuki Izutsu. He made his directorial debut in 1989 with Knockout. In 2000, his film Face won numerous awards including Best Director at the Japanese Academy Prize. His other notable work includes KT (2002), Aegis (2005), Children of the Dark (2008), Zatoichi: The Last (2010), Someday (2011), A Chorus of Angels (2012), Human Trust (2013), The Projects (2016), Ernesto (2017), Another World (2019), I Never Shot Anyone (2020), My Brother, The Android And Me (2022) and Fuyu Soubi (2022).
