The Ones Left Behind: The Plight of Single Mothers in Japan

Synopsis

Japan is a nation of prosperity and order, yet beneath its surface, countless single mothers struggle in silence and in poverty. With little societal support, unstable employment, and a welfare system that often fails them, these women fight daily to provide for their children while facing overwhelming financial and emotional burdens.

"The Ones Left Behind: The Plight of Single Mothers in Japan" offers an unfiltered look into their realities, sharing the voices of those who endure poverty, discrimination, and exhaustion in a society that expects them to succeed alone. Through personal interviews and stark storytelling, the film exposes the deep flaws in Japan’s social safety net and the urgent need for reform.

This documentary is both a testament to resilience and a call for change, urging Japan to recognize and support the invisible struggles of its most vulnerable families.

Magazines featuring the film: AP News https://apnews.com/article/poverty-japan-children-mothers-filmmaking-unmarried-2391ebf0bd955795195fbad25dd13348

Hollywood Reporter https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/documentary-shines-light-on-hidden-poverty-japan-1236031222/

Tokyo Weekender https://www.tokyoweekender.com/japan-life/single-mothers-in-japan “Rionne McAvoy’s documentary about single mothers in Japan is powerful” “McAvoy is a natural raconteur (storyteller). His brilliant storytelling also involves the history of postwar Japan, yet what McAvoy reveals in his film the best is a series of narratorial boxes in which he opens the situations and realities in which many single parents in Japan live in.

Festival Review Magazine https://festivalreviews.org/2023/03/26/feature-film-review-the-ones-left-behind-the-plight-of-single-mothers-in-japan

“Rionne comes at this film from both an outsider/insider’s point of view. As a long-term resident, he understands the Japanese culture and ideology, but he’s also looking at it from the perspective of a foreigner. He sees the beauty of Japan, which is fitting because it makes him the right person to do a documentary about the ugliness of it.”

Indiewrap Magazine https://indiewrapmag.com/film/the-ones-left-behind-a-peak-into-the-lives-of-single-mothers-in-japan

“The ones left behind: The plight of single mothers in Japan doesn’t just highlight the problems faced by single mothers in Japan. It proposes suggestions that can help single mothers in future to live a normal life and prevent inter-generational poverty.

Best selling author Robert Whiting “I watched Rionne's film and was stunned at how good it was--educational and moving, it deserves as wide an audience as possible. It's clear we are watching the emergence of a first rate cinematic story teller. I'm eager to see Rionne does next.”

Tokyo American Club Official Magazine (print and online - page 19 of magazine) “As a cameraman and director with an interest in social justice issues, McAvoy has produced content for global outlets like Japan’s NHK and the BBC, and has worked closely with several Japanese prefectural governments including a campaign that was directly responsible for the lifting of import bans on Fukushima food products from several overseas countries. His new documentary, The Ones Left Behind: The Plight of Single Mothers in Japan, is an unflinching look at an ignored social problem.” https://issuu.com/intouch_magazine/docs/2023-05-may-intouch

Director's Biography

Rionne McAvoy Director

Rionne McAvoy is a documentary filmmaker originally hailing from the Gold Coast in Australia. Now residing in Tokyo, Japan, for over 17 years, Rionne is fully bilingual in English and Japanese. Rionne grew up in South East Queensland, Australia, and at the age of 19 went to Japan for an 8 week karate training trip and fell in love with the country. Putting his IT university studies on hold and returning to Japan 1 year later on a working holiday visa, Rionne spent 18 months living and working in Japan, including spending the last 8 months living with a Japanese host family. Realizing the need to complete his college education, Rionne returned to Australia and enrolled in a full time Japanese language degree at Griffith University. In the middle of those studies, Rionne spent 1 year as an international exchange student at Seikei University. Upon graduation from Griffith, Rionne returned to Japan where he has lived ever since. A keen martial artist, Rionne has been in the Japanese film industry for over 10 years, often mixing his profession with that of his other profession - a professional wrestler under the ring name of Rionne Fujiwara. Rionne's debut documentary "The Ones Left Behind: The Plight of Single Mothers in Japan" has won numerous overseas film festival awards as it continues to be a shining light down the path of improving the living conditions for single parents in Japan, and around the world.