‘Black Box Diaries’ is Shiori Ito’s unflinching case for the truth

Nominated for a best documentary Academy Award and boasting a 99% “Fresh” rating on the Rotten Tomatoes site, Shiori Ito’s documentary “Black Box Diaries” is finally getting a Japan release, nearly two years after its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Why this brave, disturbing and deeply personal film, which documents Ito’s quest for justice after an alleged sexual assault at a Tokyo hotel in 2015, was effectively banned in Japan has already been much discussed in media and online forums.

Instead of the usual reason often given for film bans — the threat of rightist violence — Ito faced a torrent of criticism in Japan for supposed offenses against journalistic ethics, including her inclusion of CCTV footage from the hotel after agreeing to use it only for her court case against her alleged rapist — TV broadcast journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi.