Double Nominee for Academy & Emmy Awards! Documentary Director Emma Yamazaki's Talked-About Book 'I Still Want to Send My Son to a Japanese Elementary School' Gets 3rd Printing!

Emma Yamazaki, a documentary director, has published 'I Still Want to Send My Son to a Japanese Elementary School' (Shincho Shinsho). Her latest work, 'Elementary School - It's a Small Society', made headlines last year when the short version was nominated for a US Academy Award, and it has just been revealed that the feature-length version has been nominated for a US Emmy Award, often referred to as the 'Academy Award of Television'. Director Yamazaki, who also appeared on the popular program 'Asaichi' (NHK General) on the 16th of this month and is a hot topic in various places, is celebrating the decision to reprint this book, which is her first and can be called a semi-autobiography. ■ Publication event for this book to be held at the Kanda Port Building 5th Anniversary 'Port Opening'! [Date] Sunday, April 26, 2026 [Time] 11:00 - 16:30 [Location] Hobonichi School (Kanda Port Building 2F) [Participation Fee] Free *Application required [How to Apply] Please apply using the dedicated form at the address below. Walk-in participation on the day is also possible, but we ask for advance registration to secure a seat. https://forms.gle/NReG3ENAyw1D8gJk9 11:00-12:00 Talk Session 1 Book Club Reading Group 'I Still Want to Send My Son to a Japanese Elementary School' 12:00-13:00 Emma Yamazaki Book Sale & Signing Sale and signing of Emma Yamazaki's 'I Still Want to Send My Son to a Japanese Elementary School' (Shincho Shinsho) 14:00-15:00 Talk Session 2 Thinking with Emma Yamazaki '~I Still Want to Send My Son to a Japanese Elementary School~ The Hope Found in "School"' Guest Speaker: Mina Horiguchi 15:00-15:15 Emma Yamazaki Book Sale & Signing Sale and signing of Emma Yamazaki's 'I Still Want to Send My Son to a Japanese Elementary School' (Shincho Shinsho) *If you have already purchased the book, please bring it. I will sign it. *The book is 990 yen (tax included). Please note that payment is by cash only. *Even if you cannot apply from the URL above, you can participate on-site on the day. *Children are very welcome. Please come and join us with your family. *Please be aware that your face may appear in photos posted later on the official social media of Emma Yamazaki, Mina Horiguchi, Hobonichi, and Hobonichi School. ■ About this book 'Six-year-olds are much the same anywhere in the world, but by the time they are 12, Japanese children have become "Japanese".' This is the catchphrase of the feature documentary film 'Elementary School - It's a Small Society', directed by the author, Emma Yamazaki. Filmed over a year at a public elementary school in Tokyo, this work has been screened all over the world, achieving an unusually long run in Japan for a documentary film, and was shown in over 100 cinemas nationwide. The short film 'Instruments of a Beating Heart', produced from the same footage, was nominated for the Short Documentary category at the 2025 US Academy Awards, becoming the first time a Japanese director achieved this feat with a work themed on Japan. Documentary film 'Elementary School - It's a Small Society' / Documentary film 'Koshien: Field of Dreams' Born to a British father and a Japanese mother, and raised under 'thorough bilingual education' at home, the author left her parents at the age of six to attend an elementary school in the UK, followed by a public elementary school in Osaka, an international school in Kobe, and New York University in the US, receiving a diverse education in various countries. Yamazaki, who now often conveys the charm of Japan through her works, says that since childhood she was looked at with curiosity for being 'half', gradually grew disgusted with Japanese society, which she felt was highly homogeneous and somewhat closed, and harbored the thought 'I may never return to Japan again' when she went to university in America. After moving to the US, she suffered from a severe identity crisis and unavoidable visa issues as a 'foreigner', but in overcoming these difficulties, she realized that her own 'Japanese side' was precisely her weapon. The theme she eventually arrived at when she began walking the path as a documentary director was the question, 'What is Japanese-ness?' The first work to search for that answer was 'Koshien'. She conducted close-up coverage at powerhouse schools like Hanamaki Higashi High School and Yokohama Hayato High School, which have produced Major Leaguers like Shohei Ohtani and Yusei Kikuchi, gaining valuable insights. The feature film that followed was the 'elementary school' she herself attended. However, she says, 'I do not think everything about Japanese society, including education, is good. When I went to the US at 19, I thought I might never return to Japan again.'