In the wake of (2018)

The revered Japanese poet Gozo Yoshimasu (born 1939, Tokyo) could not find words to compose poetry after witnessing the devastation of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. He got lost. In this blank state, rather than creating something new, he began transcribing from an old book "Kyodo-Gensouron," by the renowned philosopher Takaaki Yoshimoto. Through the constant process of writing out Yoshimoto's words, in very tiny characters, every single day for last 5 years, Yoshimasu has been reconstructing his way of being. In this film, he reads his latest book 'Kaibutsu-kun' (The literal translation is 'Monster-boy"), a collection of poems he finally created after the disaster. The butoh dance-like performance/poetry reading is a form of catharsis for him. Like Gozo Yoshimasu, following the disaster in her homeland, filmmaker Toko Shiiki felt she had lost her way and artistic motivation. In April 2017, at the 50th Anniversary of The International Writing Program at University of Iowa, she spent one week in conversation with the poet, camera in hand, and afterwards, she also felt as if she had begun to restructure the very framework of her artistic self. She decided to weave these inspiring moments into a film that might be a beacon, for herself and other artists.