This event now concluded. Video available here
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- Speaker: Shiori ITO (Journalist; Documentary Filmmaker; 2020 Time 100 List; Asia 21 Young Leader)
- Video Message: Tom NAGORSKI (Executive Vice President, Asia Society)
- Moderator: Aiko DODEN (Special Affairs Commentator, NHK World TV, Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
- Date: Friday, February 12, 2021, 6:00–7:00 pm (JST)
- Venue: Online
- Co-organized by: Asia Society Japan Center, Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting, Shahani Associates Limited
- Supported by: Japan Foundation Asia Center, MRA Foundation, Tanaka UK Japan Educational Foundation
- Language: English / Japanese (with simultaneous interpretation)
- Admission: Free
Ever since the #MeToo movement started in the United States, thousands of women across the world have come forward and joined the movement, telling their own stories. Asia was no exception; the movement has picked up momentum and developed in its own particular way. Yet, there are innumerable victims who are unable to speak up because of their fear of secondary victimization through the insensitive, victim-blaming attitude of third parties and false rumors spread on social media, as well as discrimination and sanctions imposed by traditionally patriarchal societies.
Goal 5 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) includes the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, but how can Asia join hands in attaining this goal? Shiori Ito, who was cited as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2020 for her contribution to Japan’s #MeToo movement, will share her insights.
Recording of the livestream
*If you would like to watch in Japanese (simultaneous interpretation), please click here
Shiori Ito is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. Her primary focus is gender-based human rights issues. At the 2018 New York Festivals, Ito won a silver award for the film she directed, Lonely Death, in the Social Issues category. In 2017, she published the nonfiction book Black Box based upon her own experience of rape. The book reveals the sexism in Japanese society and institutions, and was awarded the Free Press Association of Japan Award for Best Journalism in 2018. Black Box is now available in Japanese, Chinese, French, Korean, and Swedish (The English version is scheduled to be published in July 2021). For her contribution to Japan’s #MeToo movement, she was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2020. She was also selected for Newsweek’s The Most Respected Japanese 100 in 2019. She is now developing her first feature documentary.
Aiko Doden has expertise in reporting on a wide range of global issues from hard security to human security. As a commentator, she covers Southeast Asia, Japan-US relations and Japan’s foreign policy. Doden is a popular face on TV, having anchored key news programs such as NHK Good Morning Japan, NHK News at 9 PM, NHK World Network, and NHK Asian Voices. She was a correspondent based in Thailand extensively covering ASEAN countries. She holds an MA from Columbia University and translated I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World into Japanese (Iwanami Shoten, 2014). She has served as Trustee at the International House of Japan since 2018.