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Weaving a hopeful poem around a black box, Shiori Itō visits Duke
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Journalist. Activist. Survivor. All of these words have been used to describe Shiori Itō, an Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on gender-based human rights issues. On April 9, Shiori came to Duke for a screening of her award-winning film, Black Box Diaries, an autobiographical examination of her experience with sexual violence and her ensuing pursuit of justice.
The afternoon began with a very candid and compelling discussion in Professor Kimberly Hassel’s course about Shiori's experience publicly discussing her assault, the backlash she faced from a highly online community, and the challenge of navigating this conversation in a new media environment.
Shiori shared that she found a surprising measure of support from the Zainichi (ethnic Koreans living in Japan) community in and around Kanagawa. She expressed that she was disappointed and perplexed by the lack of support for her case from the larger feminist community in Japan. However, she realized, more established feminists in Japan are still very much part of a patriarchal system and thus face implicit social constraints on their activity.
Surprisingly, she recounted, several senior Japanese feminists told her that she is “not Japanese enough” and she should not speak about “shameful” things. Younger feminists have generally been more supportive, but not always in the ways that Shiori needed at the time. Almost paradoxically, some of the strongest and most outspoken activists in her favor were the ones in their 80s who had been politically active in the 60s, though they had also been disheartened by the lack of response to their protests at the time.
Shiori revealed that even her younger sister was afraid to be associated with her due to concern about impact on her career prospects. Her sister worked for Nissan and declared that she would be married by age 25. With a touch of humor, Shiori observed that life does not always go according to plan—her sister is not (yet) married and has since left Nissan. Nevertheless, this exchange exhibited a surprisingly internalized conservatism and patriarchy, even among family members.
Toward the end of the class visit, one student raised a question about communicating traumatic experiences in a non-native language; this expanded into a broader dialogue about learning to work in a second language more regularly and how this experience can change one's approach to communicating when returning to the primary language and cultural context.
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I believe in the power of cinema. … You know, first, I was so scared to come to [speak] after the film screening in Japan, and I was really nervous. But people who watched it didn't understand why I made a film and why we tried to bring it back to Japan. And so, to be able to talk to them after the screening, that—that was really helpful to me.”
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Following the near-capacity evening screening of Black Box Diaries, Shiori engaged with Professor Kimberly Hassel as well as Professor Anne Allison. Professor Allison’s first book, Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity was an ethnographic exploration of Japanese hostess clubs and the social and gender dynamics revealed in these businesses. She commented on the general response to the film in Japan, noting that “for such a stunning story, and with such courage that you show in being able to come forth and share your story, both as a journalist and as a survivor, it's still surprising to me that there hasn't been more of a response from the public.”
Allison was referring to the fact that Black Box Diaries premiered at Sundance in 2024 but was only released in Japan as of December 2025. Screenings in Japan have subsequently expanded to 80 theaters, but acceptance of the film has been slow. That said, the depth of Shiori’s belief in the power of film to transform audience hearts and minds was visible as she spoke.
Professor Hassel turned the conversation to a lighter topic: politics. Noting that the 2025 World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index ranked Japan 118th out of 148 countries, Shiori responded that it was an improvement—it had come in 121st place the prior year. Archaic laws related to sexual assault are starting to change, but at a glacial pace. The electoral dominance of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has caused several progressive politicians to succumb to the establishment rather than continuing to advocate for improvement.
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In the ensuing exchange with audience questions, Shiori revealed that her initial coping mechanisms, “box wine and cats” as well as hiking the Camino de Santiago, meditation, and very spicy food were effective for a time, but she has found healing and power from examining her trauma and wrangling control over her own narrative. Or, as Shiori phrased it, “I'm believing in storytelling and believing in being able to communicate as a human being. That's what keeps me going.”
Shiori’s final advice for the audience, particularly fellow survivors of sexual assault was to “Survive and believe in the truth. I feel like, coming here, I'm so happy I could see your face and talk face-to-face and be able to discuss about it. But also, not just the survivors, but people around survivors. Don't ignore it. Be an active bystander. Me, I was saved by so many active bystanders and you see so many of them in the film. If they didn't do something, then maybe I didn't know my truth or what happened to me.”
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