Japan Foundation Los Angeles, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles, will present “Koshien: Japan’s Field of Dreams” (2019, 94 minutes) on Wednesday, Nov. 20, from 7 to 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.).
Presented in conjunction with JFLA’s “Ganbare! Japanese Athletes on the World Stage” photo exhibition.
Baseball is life for the die-hard competitors in Koshien, Japan’s national high school baseball championship, whose alumni include U.S. baseball stars Shohei Ohtani and former Yankee Hideki Matsui. As popular as America’s World Series, the stakes are beyond high in this single-elimination tournament.
For Coach Mizutani, however, cleaning the grounds and greeting guests are equally important as honing baseball skills, demonstrating discipline, sacrifice and unwavering dedication. Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki follows Mizutani and his team on their quest to win the 100th annual Koshien, and, in the process, goes beyond baseball to reveal the heart of the Japanese national character.
This special film event will also feature a talk and Q&A session with the film’s director, Ema Yamazaki.
Raised in Osaka by a Japanese mother and British father, Yamazaki grew up navigating between Japanese and Western cultures. Having studied filmmaking at New York University, she uses her unique storytelling perspective as an insider and outsider in Japan. In 2017, her first feature documentary “Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators,” was released worldwide after raising over $186,000 on Kickstarter.
In 2019, her second feature documentary, “Koshien,” premiered at DOC NYC. In 2020, the film aired on ESPN, and was released theatrically in Japan. It was a New York Times recommendation for international streaming and featured on the Criterion Channel.
Yamazaki’s latest documentary feature, “The Making of a Japanese,” follows one year in a Japanese public school. The film premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2023 and is currently playing festivals around the world. Admission is free but reservations are required. Go to: www.jflalc.org/event-details.php/210/movie-director-s-talk-koshien-japan-s-field-of-dreams