I spent most of the time from the end of December till early January with the number one Filipino director, Sheron Dayoc. Actually, all my Filipino friend directors are number one directors from Philippines, so he is just on of them, hahaha... He came to Osaka to make a research for his new narrative feature film project. Yes, we are making a film together in Japan hopefully next year!

Sheron's journey in Japan was very interesting for me too. From Dec 31 till Jan 9, we interviewed 6 Filipino caregivers or hostesses in Osaka and in Tokyo. When Sheron just arrived at Osaka, we didn't know where we could find those Filipinos to interview. So we went to some Filipino pubs, Filipino restaurant called Bamboo, and Catholic Tamatsukuri Church where many Filipinos gather. They helped us a lot introducing us the caregivers and giving us the information. The church was very interesting for me as you can see the picture below...

The most interesting interview was a transgender woman who came to Japan as a dancer 30 years ago, worked for many places in Japan, worked as a caregiver for a while, and is now again a hostess. Her personal story, her relationship with her family in Philippines, and her experience in Japan were very touching as she went through so many things. Also, I realized that there were so many things I didn't know about immigrants in Japan.

We visited a hospital for the elderly and a home for the elderly where Filipino caregivers are working. I had mixed feelings about the elder people there, their family, Japanese caregivers, and Filipino caregivers. I can't write about this issue so short here as it is very complicated matter, but that is the real issue we are facing in Japan.

The issue is so complicated and so deep. That's why we want to make a film about a story of Filipino caregiver working in home for elderly in Japan! Thank you for all the people we interviewed in Osaka and in Tokyo and all those helped us!