Saudade

Immigrants, 3D (dirty, dangerous and demeaning) labors and hip-hop… Witness what’s going on in the underbelly of a small city, Japan!

Kofu city, Yamanashi, Japan. It’s just like any other small cities in Japan. People are sparse in downtown. All the shutters are closed on local businesses. Among the sparse population are the immigrant labors, the Japanese-Brazilians, the Thais, etc. Takeru is a crew member of a local hip-hop group Army Village. His parents filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and are now pachinko gambling addicts. His younger brother is mentally unstable. The family is dysfunctional. Takeru registers himself to a construction labor resource agency. The agency sends him to many construction sites and he learns that there are many immigrant workers. He is befriended with Seiji and Hosaka. Construction labor is all Seiji knows in his young life. Hosaka has recently returned from Thailand. The new friends take Takeru to a local Thai-Pub where Seiji and Hosaka have a ball. Seiji flirts with Miyao, one of the companions. Takeshi feels alienated and starts to harbor hostility against the immigrants.

“Saudade.” It’s difficult to translate this Portuguese word without losing much in translation… Longing, yearning, a dream one will never claim…