Shot over the course of a single scholastic year, Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s The Making of a Japanese concerns itself with the formative qualities and values instilled by the country’s education system. Documenting first and sixth grade students in Tokyo suburb Tsukado, one of Japan’s largest public elementary schools, this rare snapshot into the country’s schools is full of revelations as it courses from one spring to the next. Following the lives of both teachers and students, and their subsequent development as individuals as well as their struggles, Yamazaki’s intimate eye captures what it means to learn and become a member of Japanese society.Read More »