Noriko, Camila’s grandmother, keeps saying “my parents would be very happy” when her granddaughter shows her previews of her film. Camila wonders if Noriko doesn’t know that the film is mainly inspired by her life, or if she just doesn’t say it because she doesn’t want to steal the spotlight.

The diverse experiences of the Nikkei community around the world can make the art that emerges from them feel both personal and recognizable to others who share the same story. In Okaeri: The Spy of the Rising Sun, a film in development by Camila Murayama Tagami, the aim is to portray the experiences of Japanese immigrants and their children in Peru during World War II, but for the director there is a family aspect that is even more important.

Okaeri: Spy of the Rising Sun is a film in development that stars Nozomi, a Nisei girl facing the deportation of Japanese immigrants to Peru. The relationship between the missing father and his daughter is a central theme of the film, which is inspired by the concerns and situations experienced by the screenwriter and director’s grandmother during her childhood. However, it is not a biopic.

The name “Okaeri” refers to the Japanese phrase okaerinasai, a greeting given to someone returning home. This need for a missing father to return home is the main concern of Nozomi, the protagonist.

Photograph of Nozomi and her father in the concept teaser for Okaeri: Spy of the Rising Sun. Photography: Pedro Horna

Of the family…

Family photo of Camila Murayama's grandmother and her parents. Camila Murayama Family Archive

Stuck on a trip to the United States due to the pandemic, Camila and her grandmother found an opportunity to spend time together and talk. It was while in the country where many Japanese immigrants from Peru were deported that Murayama learned, for the first time, about what her family had suffered during that time. She wondered why she had never been taught this in school.

Nikkei family figures change over the generations. The father of the protagonist of Okaeri is a Japanese man who does not allow himself to show weakness, typical of the era portrayed in the project. However, Camila adds a playful personality with his daughter, which she believes all current Nikkei fathers should have. In her script she also adapts an anecdote she had with her father, in which he surprised her by making her think that her doll had defecated. The humor that Murayama finds in her family, and also in cinematic inspirations such as Yasujiro Ozu, give her the tone that her work seeks.

The women in the director’s family life inspire the female characters in the project. Camila saw devotion in her mother and grandmother’s work, which inspires the character of the protagonist’s mother. Noriko is represented by Nozomi, an outspoken girl who faces her fears in the context of war.

…and the community

Concept teaser photo from Okaeri: Spy of the Rising Sun. Photography: Pedro Horna

Kimochi, or “feeling of affection,” is essential to the project, and that also implies that other Nikkei get artistically involved with the project, since they already have a sense of belonging to the theme. “It is important to know that they feel that it is also the story of their family, of their grandparents,” explains Camila. The artistic proposals, thanks to this, are loaded with a cultural, family and personal background that enriches the development.

“The generation that lived through that is slowly leaving, and with them their story if we don’t tell it,” says the filmmaker. Thanks to the support of the “Carlos Chiyoteru Hiraoka” Museum of Japanese Immigration to Peru, she was able to learn personal stories of Peruvian Nisei. Some of these anecdotes were rescued in the film, because, in the words of the director, “it is important that we tell the story.”

The Nikkei community also involves, in the case of Camila’s context, the Peruvian side. Considering the theme of the project, if a “them against us” stance is taken, the population can be alienated and even more discriminatory conflict can be created, of which the filmmaker is aware. “I didn’t want non-Nikkei Peruvians to be seen as caricatured villains,” she explains.

Camila also understands that the “them against us” discourse that previous generations of Peruvian Nikkei may maintain is one that arises from the trauma experienced in the era that the script covers. It is important for her to empathize with this feeling and at the same time highlight the importance of harmonious coexistence in society. “We all poop,” she says with humor, referring to Tarō Gomi’s book.

So far, Camila Murayama's project has won the National Competition for the Development of Feature Film Projects organized by the Directorate of Audiovisual, Phonography and New Media in 2023. She is currently continuing to form strategic alliances to facilitate the full development of the film. There is still time before it can be fully realized. There is no doubt that the wait will be worth it for our community, whose representation in the cinema will be a great milestone.

Presentation at the Peruvian-Japanese Cultural Center about the development of the project. Credit: Peruvian-Japanese Cultural Center

© 2024 Hiro Ramos Nako