The River With No Bridge (1992)

The River With No Bridge 1992 / 橋のない川 1992 / Hashi no Nai Kawa

A form of class discrimination is examined through the eyes of a child living in Japan in the early 1900s. At the time, ‟burakumin‟ were considered outcasts for their association with dirty jobs such as butchery and tanning. Koji and his older brother Seitaro are routinely tormented and called ‟eta‟ (filthy) by their classmates simply due to their inherited place in an archaic social caste system going back to the feudal era. Koji wonders how the idea of hard work can be so valued and derided at the same time within Japanese society.