Black Box Diaries

Two women in white shirts embrace in the back of a car wearing seatbelts. — Courtesy of MTV Documentary Films.

In 2017, Japanese journalist Shiori Itō publicly accused a prominent media executive (and associate of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe) of rape, and published a bestselling memoir detailing her case — Black Box, a book credited with sparking the #MeToo movement in Japan.

Black Box Diaries is a survivor’s real-time investigation of her own sexual assault — and includes raw video diaries (shot on Itō’s iPhone), surreptitious audio recordings of police negligence, and vérité courtroom footage. Itō documents her courageous struggle to navigate Japan’s patriarchal judiciary and antiquated sex crimes laws (proven lack of consent was insufficient) and quest for justice.

Part of our "Doc Spots" series. In English and Japanese with English subtitles. Courtesy of MTV Documentary Films.

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The SHARE Office (Sexual Harassment and Assault – Response and Education) within the Skorton Center for Health Initiatives provides key services, training and education, advocacy and support for victims/survivors. The SHARE website provides important and timely information to the Cornell community about sexual harassment, assault, dating/domestic violence, stalking, gender discrimination, and other related forms of violence.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline also offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.