Over the two hours I sat in the theatre watching this year’s Palme D’Or winner, Shoplifters, I went through every emotion I am capable of feeling. I was reminded of the realities that many low-income families have to face- something that I have been privileged enough not to experience.
Just as the title of the film suggests, the family manages to get food on the table thanks to the shoplifting father and son. They get a new addition to the clan, a little girl who was found on the streets on a cold February night. We see the heartwarming bond that the family has despite their shared struggle, which also ultimately breaks the viewer’s hearts. The tragicomic story overwhelmed me with every emotion I have, and then some.
Kore-eda’s movies are known to combine beauty with the ugly aspects that come with Japanese society. Shoplifters does not hold back with the social commentary. In Japan, we tend to turn a blind eye to what we may find morally taboo, or things that we are fortunate to have never encountered, and this is the exact reason such flaws in the system thrive. Following are a few aspects of our society that the movie forces us to face.
Public Assistance
Many lower income families, like the one the movie centers around, increasingly rely on welfare to survive. The social security system in Japan, including health insurance, employment insurance, and pensions have proven to be flawed as more and more people fall through these government schemes and into poverty.
The family in the movie lives in a bungalow too small for their own good. The grandmother, Hatsue, takes money from her deceased ex-husband’s pension and freeloads off his son from his second marriage. They cannot buy basic supplies such as food and toiletries, which they get by stealing them from shops. The family encourages the eldest daughter of the family to do sex work to make ends meet. When the father fractures his foot at his construction job, the entire family gets anxious about getting enough money. When a tragedy hits the family, they cannot afford hospital bills or cremation costs, which leads them to horrific measures to avoid losing the limited money they have. This story is not unique to the movie, and is widespread in society.
Sex Work
Aki, the young 20-something girl earns money for the family by doing sex work. If you’ve ever been to Japan, especially Tokyo’s red light districts in Shinjuku or Ikebukuro, you’ve seen the streets jam packed with ‘soaplands’ and ‘massage parlors.’ These establishments are basically brothels, and they thrive despite the illegal status of prostitution in Japan. This is because the women technically don’t charge for sexual intercourse, they charge you so they can massage or bathe you. However, it is common knowledge that sex can be expected in most, if not all, of these shops.
Doing sex work is a safety net many financially disadvantaged women fall into in order to earn money, and the industry has flourished thanks to them. The market reached a whopping ¥3.5 trillion in 2014 ($31.6 billion) and does not seem to be slowing down. Many women pursue sex work because of its flexible hours and immediate-cash-on-site pay system. And even with the many risks that come with the work (rape, stalkers, sexually transmitted diseases), it’s still a job many women turn to.
While it may be empowering for some women, many are driven to do this work out of the necessity to survive. Due to the patriarchal nature of our society, women were forced to rely on male figures whether they be husbands or fathers for an income or health insurance. However, this is no longer the case as divorce rates soar and many women opt out of marriage entirely. The welfare system that the government offers is very hard for single and vulnerable women to come by due to the complicated bureaucracy that backs it up. It’s no wonder many women turn to sex work.
Child Abuse
It’s heart breaking that child abuse is so common in Japan that we hear news reports of children dying due to parental neglect multiple times a year. In Shoplifters, the young five year-old girl Juri/Yuri (later Rin), is informally adopted into the family after the father (Osamu) and son (Shota) find her on the streets. It is revealed that she was a victim of abuse at home and ran away.
There have been 30,000 cases of reported child abuse just in the first half of 2017, an increase of 5,000 cases from the previous year. Only 1,700 children from these cases were offered emergency assistance from police. Only 511 cases were launched into a criminal investigation, with at least 400 of them involving physical abuse. There were 27 deaths in those six months resulting from abuse by parents.
Several socioeconomic factors can be linked to child abuse in Japan. In the movie, we see Juri’s biological parents are in fact very young and on the lower spectrum of the social strata. There has been a rise in the number of unplanned pregnancies resulting in the parents getting married for the sake of the child, and higher incidences of teenage pregnancies. When an unplanned baby is conceived and a first trimester abortion costs over $1000, many women have no choice but to have the baby regardless of their financial stability or lack-thereof. Many of the real life cases of child abuse involve young parents or single mothers who struggle with the stagnant economy.
Because of the lack of resources offered to lower income and untraditional families, as well as the stigma against mental health counseling, children born into such environments have a higher risk of growing up in an abusive household. The blame is not entirely on these families, but on the government and society for not offering a strong support system, and for perpetuating taboos such as the stigma against abortions.
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Kore-eda‘s story telling combined with the brutal social commentary made this movie an absolute roller coaster of an experience.
It was a touching story of mutual sacrifice driven by a strong bond rooted in a shared struggle. It is a must watch, even for international viewers unfamiliar with Japanese society.
- Nishizawa, Satoru. (Jun 1, 2017). “Child Abuse on the Rise: Exploring the Societal Factors.” Nippon. Retrieved Jun 15, 2018, from: https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00260/
- Osaki, Tomohiro. (Aug 17, 2016). “Sex trade a shaky safety net for Japan’s working-poor women.” The Japan Times. Retrieved Jun 14, 2018, from: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/17/national/social-issues/sex-trade-shaky-safety-net-japans-working-poor-women/#.WyJtd9OFPUo
- Ryall, Julian. (Dec 7, 2015). “Horrific child abuse cases in Japan trigger soul searching about the destruction of traditional family values.” South China Morning Post. Retrieved Jun 14, 2018, from: http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/1888080/horrific-child-abuse-cases-japan-trigger-soul-searching-about
- Unknown. (Dec 18, 2017). “Editorial: As the needy increase, how to save Japan’s social security system?” The Mainichi. Retrieved Jun 16, 2018, from: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20171218/p2a/00m/0na/005000c