PHOTOS: JICS at the Movies x The Making of a Japanese film screening and fundraiser
It was a full house at Innis Town Hall for the latest JICS at the Movies event on March 2, 2026.
The event featured a screening of the acclaimed documentary "The Making of a Japanese," followed by an in-depth Q&A with the filmmaker Ema Ryan Yamazaki with JICS Principal Emerita Elizabeth Morley and Rie Kijima, an Assistant Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto. She is also the Director of Initiative for Education Policy and Innovation.
All proceeds from this latest JICS Centennial event supported the JICS Endowment Fund, ensuring that future generations of students continue to benefit from the innovative, inclusive education and research that defines the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute for Child Study Lab School.
This screening reflects the Lab School’s commitment to research, innovation, and the public purpose of education. The Making of a Japanese resonates with the Lab School’s work in early childhood learning by offering a thoughtful, observational look at how environments, relationships, and daily practices shape children’s experiences of belonging, responsibility, and community.
Below are some photos highlighting the post-film conversation. All photos by Sharmeen Somani.
About the Film
The Making of a Japanese is a warm, intimate documentary that takes viewers inside a Tokyo public elementary school to explore how early childhood education shapes culture, values, and community in Japan. Filmed over the course of a year, the film follows first- and sixth-grade students as they learn responsibility, cooperation, and respect alongside their academic studies.
Directed by Academy Award®–nominated documentary filmmaker Ema Ryan Yamazaki, the film offers a moving portrait of childhood and the everyday school rituals that reveal larger truths about belonging and identity. Praised by The New York Times as a “nuanced portrait that tries to explain why Japan is the way it is — a highly structured society built from the elementary level,” the film invites reflection long after the credits roll.
