Japanese film director Takeuchi Ryo came to China in 2010 to shoot a documentary series on the Yangtze River and decided to make the country his home. In 2014, an unscripted documentary series, The Reason I Live Here, followed based on his life in China. His 2020 documentary, Long Time No See, Wuhan received rave reviews in China due to its firsthand portrayal of life in the central Chinese city during the COVID-19 outbreak. In 2021, his film on the Tokyo Olympics, Double-Sided Olympics, was released, providing a different perspective on the Games.

A photograph of Ryo Takeuchi.

Takeuchi Ryo

China and Japan observed the 50th anniversary of the normalization of their diplomatic relations in 2022 but the relationship remains rocky due to their complex historical legacy. Public opinion polls in both countries have found negative opinions about the Chinese abound among the Japanese and vice versa. As the complicated relationship between the two countries makes cultural exchanges difficult, people like Takeuchi Ryo, who has been making films on China for nearly 10 years, play an important role in bridging the gap in understanding and resolving misunderstandings.

CNS: What made you start telling the China story through documentaries?

Takeuchi Ryo: The reason was unhappiness. I was unhappy.

I had been making documentaries in Japan for 20 years. Then I met the woman I would marry, and she is Chinese. As I started living in China, besides my wife, I had more friends in China and I began to know more about China.

There is a lot of criticism of China in the media in Europe and America, as well as in Japan. People who are poorly informed and know nothing about China read these reports, thanks to the Internet, and tend to believe and echo this criticism. They know nothing about China but still criticize it. It made me sad. I wanted to make films on what I have seen in China and its culture and show them to the Japanese, and the rest of the world.

CNS: How would you describe the China that you film?

Takeuchi Ryo: If I use one word to describe China, it will be “fun.” This is because of my thirst for new things. China is changing so fast these years. If I leave China for two or three years, I would not be able to keep up with the changes when I come back.

Japan, on the other hand, has not changed much. I’ve lived in China for almost 10 years, and recently, when I went back to Japan, I could still keep up with the pace of living in Japan. But I prefer a life that is fun and changing.

I have been filming China for the past 10 years, and one of the documentaries is about Wuhan during COVID-19.

I made this documentary because I saw that the Wuhan reported by the foreign media was very different from the Wuhan that I observed and experienced. So I immediately decided to film the real Wuhan in my eyes. When Long Time No See, Wuhan was released online, some Japanese media asked me, “Did the Chinese government ask you to make this documentary?” I told them that my team and I shot all the footage ourselves on our own initiative. From their questions, I could see that they came to interview me with preconceptions.

There were two more films that received a lot of attention in Japan: a documentary about Chinese advanced technology and one about the Daliang Mountains in southwest China. They were two very different topics and yet received great attention in Japan. In fact, the Japanese are very interested in the real China that they cannot see.

CNS: The core feature of a documentary is truth. How do you portray China in an objective and realistic manner? How do you deal with the negative comments?

Takeuchi Ryo: My documentary advocates subjective truth. It means I shoot what I see and then show it. The problem with some Western and Japanese media is that their reports do the opposite. They report on China by saying the opposite of what they see, making things up.

I don’t really care about criticism or even attacks, I am a very “self-centered” person in my work. There are voices that agree with me, and there are also negative voices. Those who dislike my work may not know about China. What I am doing is to provide more perspectives to understand the real China. Actually, the negative comments are the motivation that keeps me going.

CNS: You have traveled to many places and interviewed many people in China. What are the biggest similarities and differences between the Chinese and Japanese?

Takeuchi Ryo: After interviewing so many people and recording so many stories about China, I feel that the biggest similarity between China and Japan is their view of family. In fact, many aspects of Japanese culture can be traced back to Chinese culture as they are influenced by Confucianism.

As for the differences, I feel the Chinese are more generous, very efficient in what they do, and value scale and speed. For Chinese, efficiency is priority.

Since Japan is an island nation, the Japanese care more about details and are more conservative. Japan was in a state of isolation for a long time, and it was not until the Meiji Restoration (the restoration of imperial rule under Emperor Meiji in 1868) that the situation began to change, but the conservativeness has not changed. For example, when I returned to Japan the last time, I saw Japanese TV cameramen still using videotape for recordings, which is almost no longer used in the Chinese media industry.

Japan still uses paper money extensively, and electronic payment is far from popular, which makes it very difficult for Japanese like me, who live in China most of the time and are used to cashless transactions, to adapt when we go back.

CNS: Currently, the average Japanese generally does not have a favorable view of China. Data shows that only 10 percent viewed China positively in 2020. So how do they regard your documentaries about China?

Takeuchi Ryo: I’ve seen this data, but it’s a bit different from what I see. I think it’s impossible that 90 percent of Japanese don’t like China. I used to do public speaking in Japan when I would ask my audience two questions: “Do you like China personally? Do your friends like China?” Most of them would reply, “I’m not sure about it,” and then say that they see negative reports about China on TV every day. So if you ask them to choose between liking and disliking China, they would choose disliking.

Therefore, if we present positive and interesting things about China to the Japanese, whether through our documentaries, Chinese movies, cartoons or even variety shows, I think the power of culture will eventually change their attitude toward China.

Today, there is an interesting phenomenon in Japan. Many young Japanese like watching the videos of Chinese beauty bloggers, and Chinese apps such as TikTok are also very popular in Japan. A recent poll by a Japanese media organization found that young people have a more favorable view of China than older people. Therefore, I think young people may be the force to promote mutual understanding between the two countries.

CNS: Are you going to keep on making documentaries about life in China?

Takeuchi Ryo: I am very interested in Chinese culture and Chinese people, and the incessant changes in China continue to whet my interest. So yes, I will continue to do what I am doing.

My next film is going to be another documentary on the Yangtze River, which will introduce the customs and cultures along the river to the Japanese and global audiences.

(Interviewed by Xie Ping and Li Xiang)