"Black Box Diaries," a documentary in which Japanese journalist Shiori Ito investigates her own sexual assault case and the barriers she faced in pursuing justice, has been screened widely abroad since its 2024 festival debut and earned an Oscar nomination early this year.

It finally premiered in Japan on Friday, a long-delayed domestic release that began with a single-theater run.

In Japan, sexual assault victims are often stigmatized and silenced. But the barrier to the film's release at home was largely the result of a legal dispute over her use of some interviews and footage of witnesses and involved parties without their consent.

The 102-minute film was screened to a full house on Friday at the T. Joy Prince Shinagawa, a large cinema complex in downtown Tokyo.

Ito expressed relief that she could finally share her story with an audience in her home country.

"Until last night, I was afraid if the film is going to come out or not," she told The Associated Press after the screening. "The reason I made this film is because I want to talk about this issue openly in Japan. It's been like my little love letter to Japan, so I'm just so happy that this day came finally."

Ito, who went public with what she says happened to her in 2015, has become the face of Japan's slow moving #MeToo movement. She is the first Japanese director to be nominated for an Oscar in the category of documentary feature film. The film is based on a 2017 book she wrote, "Black Box."

What happened in 2015
As an intern in 2015, Ito was seeking a position at private TBS Television and met one of its senior journalists, Noriyuki Yamaguchi, who became her alleged assailant. She has said in her book and film that she became dizzy... Read More