Mitsuo Sato & Kyoichi Yamaoka
YAMA – ATTACK TO ATTACK / 山谷〜やられたらやりかえせ〜 (YAMA
Yararetara Yarikaese)
1985, 110 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
This extraordinary documentary is an unflinching record of the workers’ struggle that took place primarily in what is formerly known as the Sanya district in the east side of Tokyo in the 1980s. Conceived of as a weapon in the struggle, YAMA exposed the role of the yakuza, the Japanese elite and corporations in the violent exploitation of the labor
class amidst the construction boom of the time. Issues around labor rights, class discrimination, corruption, foreign workers’ rights, police violence and the stench of fascism all rear their ugly heads in this powerful chronicle. The film begins with the
aftermath of the fatal stabbing of the original director of the film, Mitsuo Sato, by a member of a right-wing imperialist yakuza clan on December 22, 1984. It was completed
by a collective, headed by director Kyoichi Yamaoka, who was also murdered soon after its completion. Still as relevant as ever, YAMA is a record of post-war Japanese history
that sheds light on the dark underbelly of labor and power relations under capitalism.
A more detailed discussion of the film’s history and of the Sanya district can be found on
the Berlinale website: https://www.arsenal-berlin.de/en/berlinale-forum/archive/program-
archive/2018/program-forum/special-screenings/yama-attack-to-attack.html.
Special thanks to Ken Komi and the “YAMA” Production and Exhibition Committee;
Thorsten Birk, subs Hamburg; Michael Hale; Ninako Takeuchi.
Organized by Aiko Masubuchi.