I Wish I Could Be Japanese (1992): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1992, I Wish I Could Be Japanese is a documentary film directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, running about 47 minutes.

What it’s about. The film deals with the rights of Japanese-Koreans -born in Japan but without Japanese passport or nationality- and the social rejection that they face if they don’t integrate completely, abandoning their Korean identity. The film’s main thread is the story of a Korean man, who in the times of the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula, is sent to Japan to fight along with the Japanese in the Philippines, but after the war and fearing discrimination, creates a Japanese identity for himself and manages to get married and have children without his family ever knowing about his origins for 50 years until he is arrested in 1985 for forging official documents and in suspicion of being a spy from North Korea. (…) © timegoesbyin.wordpress.com/tag/i-wanted-to-be-japanese

How it landed. With an audience score of 4.5/10, I Wish I Could Be Japanese has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch I Wish I Could Be Japanese page.

If you liked it. Fans of I Wish I Could Be Japanese tend to enjoy One Direction: This Is Us, Burn the Stage: The Movie, BTS World Tour: Love Yourself - Japan Edition and Senna.