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Tokyo Girls

2000 57 min
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This feature documentary is a candid journey into the world of 4 young Canadian women who work as well-paid hostesses in exclusive Japanese nightclubs. Lured by adventure and easy money, these modern-day geisha find themselves caught up in the mizu shobai—the complex "floating water world" of Tokyo clubs and bars. Drawn by fast money, some women become consumed by the lavish lifestyle and forget why they came; one hostess calls this "losing the plot." With a pulsating visual style, Tokyo Girls captures the raw energy of urban Japan and its fascination with the new.

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This work deals with mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.
Tokyo Girls

Details

This feature documentary is a candid journey into the world of 4 young Canadian women who work as well-paid hostesses in exclusive Japanese nightclubs. Lured by adventure and easy money, these modern-day geisha find themselves caught up in the mizu shobai—the complex "floating water world" of Tokyo clubs and bars. Drawn by fast money, some women become consumed by the lavish lifestyle and forget why they came; one hostess calls this "losing the plot." With a pulsating visual style, Tokyo Girls captures the raw energy of urban Japan and its fascination with the new.
This work deals with mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.
  • director
    Penelope Buitenhuis
  • script
    Penelope Buitenhuis
  • producer
    Gillian Darling Kovanic
  • editor
    Bonni Devlin
  • director of photography
    David Frazee
  • creative consultant
    Michelle Bjornson
  • composer
    Doug Blackley
    Dennis Burke
  • location sound
    Leigh Hunt Wilks
    Keith Henderson
  • additional cinematography
    John Collins
    Jai Orton
  • camera assistant
    Shinpei Otsuki
    Christopher Oben
  • production manager
    Steve Orton
    Paul Scherzer
  • assistant editor
    Diana Wilson
  • assistant
    Kaori Imai
    Ju Nakayama
  • coordinator
    Peter MacIntosh
  • contact
    Dhana
  • casting
    Kit Hayward
  • props
    Ginger Pottin
  • production stills
    Lincoln Clarkes
    Yukie Kasuga
  • participant
    Anne Allison
    Hidemi Arasaki
    Yayoi
    Terra Maria
    Mia Sara
    Ichikyo San
    Ryosuke Ikeda
    Tomoko Kawabata
    Niko
    Peter MacIntosh
    Wakita San
    Mameyu San
    Memeharu San
  • actor
    Fred Menemoto
    Jay Lyn Green
    Akinori Nagai
    Maritama Carlson
    Patrick Pon
    Christine Taylor
    Toshikazu Sugamori
  • translation
    Kiyoe Young
    Kazumi Azuma
  • interpreter
    Steve Orton
    Hiroe Tsuno
    Etsuko Michihata
  • calligraphy
    Mitsue Kurahashi
  • post-production assistant
    Sonny Lahey
  • audio post-production
    Sharpe Sound Studios Inc.
  • on-line/fx
    Northwest Imaging & FX
  • colour correction
    Rainmaker Digital Pictures
  • titling
    Rainmaker Digital Pictures
  • production supervisor
    Kathryn Lynch
  • program administrator
    Bruce Hagerman
  • executive producer
    Graydon McCrea

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