[KineJapan] Another MeToo case: Mizui Maki / Kaneko Yu / Yoshida Takayuki

[Markus Nornes]

There is one more MeToo case going on in the film world. It’s oft-discussed
in the indie world, but probably hasn’t attracted much attention.

In this case, the victim was actor Mizui Maki. The alleged perpetrator is
Kaneko Yu.

Kaneko is a well-known critic, scholar, ethnographic filmmaker, and
programmer. In the wake of 3/11, he cast aspiring actor Mizui in a half
doc/half fiction film set in the no-go zone. The shoot for this no-budget
indie, which involved just the two of them, did not go well. Aside from
some unfortunate behavior—one example: it seems he brought PPE for himself,
but not her—they had to leave the temple they were staying at, and he moved
them into a cheap hotel. A love hotel. And booked only a single room.
Pleading poverty. She left the hotel and the shoot early the next morning
while Kaneko was still asleep. Shortly thereafter Mizui took to social
media to accuse Kaneko of raping her that night.

Mizui tried to pursue it, but the police seemed unmovable. She dropped it
all and pursued her career. Many years later, she took to social media with
the accusations once again before committing suicide.

Now the MeToo movement gave a powerful framework for the story, and it blew
up in the independent film world. Kaneko was a professsor at Tama Bidai,
and when the university mounted its own investigation Kaneko abruptly
resigned and the university immediately dropped its inquiry. At the same
time, he resigned from the directorship of the Tokyo Documentary Film
Festival, and the editorship of Neo-neo. Statements were issued from his
school and the organizations he led. And then Kaneko basically disappeared
himself.

He really did disappear. I used to bump into Kaneko constantly, including a
research group he co-led—and resigned from. It was such a complete
self-exile people wondered how he was surviving.

But there were still journalists following the story, as well as fellow
filmmakers who published on social media. The most vociferous was Yoshida
Takayuki, a video artist/documentary filmmaker and regular at Eiga Nabe
(the main organization for independent filmmakers in Japan). Yoshida took
on Mizui’s social media fight, collecting and sorting through the evidence.
He was relentless.

So Kaneko sued him for defamation in three X posts. It’s been making its
way through the court over the past year or so.

There has been at least one Kaneko sighting—he sat mostly covered up in the
back of a theater. And starting a month and a half ago, he began furiously
reposting PR for _Mlabri in the Woods_ on X; this was a doc he shot in Laos
several years ago. People have assumed the court case was a step back to
the professional film world.

Just a few hours ago, the verdict came down: Yoshida was convicted and
sentenced to what the prosecution argued for: one year in prison (!!) and
three years of probation. A year in prison for three posts on X……

Yoshida has been transparent in his defense. The main documents related to
this case can be found in the folder below:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_L_MuxqScSA2XrTPjJtxvFzE96i6jfjD

A very quick rundown is in this post from his blog:

https://note.com/yoshidafilms/n/n167000b26f52

It’s hard to imagine this does not chill speech around MeToo issues.

Markus









---

*Markus Nornes*
*Professor of Asian Cinema*

Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and
Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design




*Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/
<http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/>*
*Department of Film, Television and Media*
*6348 North Quad*
*105 S. State Street**Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*




---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Takayuki Yoshida <yoshida at scan-net.ne.jp>
Date: Wed, Mar 12, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Subject: 3月17日（月）判決のご案内
To: Takayuki Yoshida <yoshida at scan-net.ne.jp>


マスコミ関係各位

突然のご連絡で大変失礼を致します。
映像作家の吉田孝行と申します。

俳優の水井真希さんに性加害を告発された元大学准教授の金子遊に名誉毀損で刑事告訴され、私のXの投稿3件をめぐって争っている裁判の判決が、3月17日（月）13時15分から東京地裁の718号法廷で言い渡されます。
https://note.com/yoshidafilms/n/n167000b26f52

判決の言い渡しはドラフトの朗読で、判決文の完成は後日になる見込みです。そのため、判決文の完成後、内容を精査したうえで、記者会見は後日行う予定でおります。

なお、この事件に関する主な書類は以下のフォルダーでご覧いただけます。
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_L_MuxqScSA2XrTPjJtxvFzE96i6jfjD

詳細は添付のファイルをお読み頂けると幸いです。

何卒宜しくお願い申し上げます。

吉田孝行
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20250317/846e4792/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ????250312.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 166577 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20250317/846e4792/attachment-0001.pdf>