[ SOCIAL AND PASTORAL BULLETIN No. 138 / July. 20 .2007 ]
 
 
The day I went to see this movie with a fancy title was a rainy day at the end of May. A mail from the distributors gave me the opportunity to watch the film.
"The movie is a road film documentary that trails the mysterious and unlucky life of an 80 year-old homeless artist, Jimmy Mirikitani, transcending the borders of California, Hiroshima and New York.
The persons and the world surrounding them that appear in this documentary profusely question the society where we are living. The continuation of wars and the people living with them, Japanese-Americans and the enforced internment in camps, city homeless elderly people and social security system, the possibilities of art for peace, a world where people living together in solidarity can live happily, etc.
We invite all those interested in such kind of themes to watch this film."

I went to see the film attracted naturally by a 'gratis invitation' but especially by its curious title "Cats of Mirikitani," more than by the PR sentences that were sent to representatives of NGOs and NPOs. Its preview took place in a small cine club for about 30 people by a busy shopping town in Shibuya with outstanding results.
"Mirikitani" the star is Jimmy Mirikitani, a Japanese-American artist 80 year-old. The name is 'Mirikitani' in Japanese characters. Born in California from an American father and a Japanese mother, Mirikitani is sent to a camp for Japanese-Americans during the Second World War and stripped of his American citizenship. He lost his mother when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and after being separated from his sister, wandered around the country and in 2001 he was living on the streets of New York displaying his drawings, as a self-educated artist. His drawings concentrate on two main themes: Cats and the camp for Japanese-Americans and Hiroshima's atomic bomb. Linda Hattendorf, the film's director, showed special interest on Mirikitani and after the 9.11 terrorist attack, when he was unable to display his drawings, took him home. Hattendorf negotiated with the authorities about his welfare services and searched for his relatives. In the process, the stormy career of Mirikitani blows up.
☆ ☆ ☆
As it appears in the PR sentences this film deals with a lot of social issues, like "9.11," "atomic bomb," "Japanese-American enforced camps," "elderly homeless people," "art and peace movements," etc.
But, what attracted me most was 'people's solidarity makes a happy world.' For instance, a Japanese-American university professor that meets with Mirikitani on the streets, a guard that was formerly living in the same apartment, the reunion with his sister and relatives found through the efforts of the film's director, the senior citizens learning the art of drawing and coming to Mirikitani's apartment that was arranged by the efforts of the social welfare office. The personal relationships broken by the war get gradually repaired thanks to the affection between Hattendorf and her film star.

As it appears in the PR sentences this film deals with a lot of social issues, like "9.11," "atomic bomb," "Japanese-American enforced camps," "elderly homeless people," "art and peace movements," etc. But, what attracted me most was 'people's solidarity makes a happy world.' For instance, a Japanese-American university professor that meets with Mirikitani on the streets, a guard that was formerly living in the same apartment, the reunion with his sister and relatives found through the efforts of the film's director, the senior citizens learning the art of drawing and coming to Mirikitani's apartment that was arranged by the efforts of the social welfare office. The personal relationships broken by the war get gradually repaired thanks to the affection between Hattendorf and her film star.
☆ ☆ ☆

Nevertheless, I felt moved by an American film director like this. I had second thoughts on those Japanese politicians and scholars that claim openly nowadays: "there were never military comfort women" or "there are no proofs of enforced mass suicides in Okinawa." What did the war conducted by Japan bring to the lives of people? I want to take my time to reflect on it.

(Shibata Yukinori, Jesuit Social Center, Tokyo)




*About the film, see the web site below:
http://www.uplink.co.jp/thecatsofmirikitani/
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