Filmmaker Statement

Yae: Blind Samurai Woman is a film about a Japanese woman, from the viewpoint of a particular culture, by a filmmaker with a personal connection to this specific struggle. I was born and raised in Japan. After I came to the USA, I noticed many films and television, which include samurai, don’t portray Japanese culture correctly. I thought I should be the one making a samurai film to represent my culture accurately. I also noticed multiple ethnicities, cultures, religions, sexual orientations, and languages; everyone has different backgrounds and opinions in this country. I thought that one person’s justice was different from others. After that, I always strived to understand their reasons whenever I confronted others. People have consistently underestimated me, and I have had to fight to change everyone’s impression of me. And I wanted to introduce a strong, kind, and independent underrepresented character to portray a little of myself and the role model I want to be.