Black Box details the harrowing experience of sexual assault Shiori Ito faced as a young journalist in Japan, as well as the national reckoning that followed.

In 2015, Ito charged Noriyuki Yamaguchi, one of Japan's best-known TV journalists, with rape. But when Ito went to the police after the assault, she was told that her case was a "black box": it had happened behind closed doors and was therefore unprosecutable.

Ito became aware of the alarming amount of black boxes built into legal and investigative systems in Japan, and the inaccessible economy around legal advice for victims of sexual assault and gender-based violence. From the attitude of investigators to the difficulties retrieving time-limited security camera footage, Ito's experience navigates the labyrinthine expectations placed upon victims.

Upon publication in 2017, Ito's account was integral to the #MeToo movement in Japan and became a necessary catalyst for cultural and legal change. As international outlets covered every step of her story - documented in the BBC film Japan's Secret Shame - this book launched a societal reckoning. At the end of 2019, Ito won a civil case against Yamaguchi.

Ito's personal story is the kernel of a searing journalistic expose, exposing how Japan's relatively low official rates of sexual assault mask a culture of victim-shaming and institutional failure on the part of the police, law and media to bring perpetrators to justice.

Winner of an English PEN Award

"Shiori Ito radiates with passion and conviction for seeking the truth." -Ryuichi Sakamoto, musician and activist

'These are not the words of a victim, but of a serious journalist. The vital urgency of Shiori Ito's record forces us to recognize the existence of the many similar cases that have gone unrecorded'- Sayaka Murata, author of Convenience Store Woman

About the Author
Shiori Ito (born 1989) is an award-winning freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker who contributes news footage and documentaries to the Economist, Al Jazeera, Reuters, and other primarily non-Japanese media outlets. In 2017 she published Black Box about her own experiences as a rape survivor, making her one of the few women in Japan to speak out against sexual assault. She is the winner of the 7th FPAJ (Free Press Association of Japan) Best Journalism Award. In 2020, she was named one of TIME's Most Influential People of the year. Allison Markin Powell has been awarded grants from English PEN and the NEA, and the 2020 PEN America Translation Prize for The Ten Loves of Nishino by Hiromi Kawakaami. Her translations include works by Osamu Dazai, Kanako Nishi, and Fuminori Nakamura. She was the guest editor for the first Japan issue of Words Without Borders, served as cochair of the PEN America Translation Committee and currently represents the committee on PEN's Board of Trustees, and she maintains the database Japanese Literature in English. Allison Markin Powell has been awarded grants from English PEN and the NEA, and the 2020 PEN America Translation Prize for The Ten Loves of Nishino by Hiromi Kawakaami. Her translations include works by Osamu Dazai, Kanako Nishi, and Fuminori Nakamura. She was the guest editor for the first Japan issue of Words Without Borders, served as cochair of the PEN America Translation Committee and currently represents the committee on PEN's Board of Trustees, and she maintains the database Japanese Literature in English.

Awards
Winner of 7th FPAJ Best Journalism Award 2018 (Japan) and English PEN Award 2020 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781911284598
Author Shiori Ito
Format Paperback
Imprint Tilted Axis Press
Publisher Tilted Axis Press