Toyoko Kids: ARTE.tv’s Sobering Documentary About Tokyo Street Kids

I’ve been fascinated by Japan for well over 30 years now; its history, art, and of course, its pop culture. As such, I can certainly be guilty of idealizing the nation. (Case in point: My wife and I still rave about the four weeks we spent there almost 20 years ago.)

Japan has many wonderful things about it, aspects that are rightly held up as an example for other countries to emulate. But Japan also has its own unique forms of brokenness and dysfunction, as revealed in ARTE.tv’s recent documentary about the street kids who congregate in Tokyo’s infamous Kabukichō district.

At only 30 minutes, the documentary doesn’t have the time to delve too deeply into the factors that cause thousands of kids to leave their families and subsequently fall through the cracks, where many of them subsequently resort to drug abuse, prostitution, and even suicide. Nevertheless, it’s a sobering look at a subculture that most in Tokyo would probably prefer to ignore. (I was reminded of Penelope Spheeris’s Decline of Western Civilization documentaries, and in particular, Part III and its focus on L.A.‘s gutter punks, which have some very clear parallels with the Toyoko kids.)

But the film also focuses on some people who aren’t ignoring the situation, and instead, trying to help: the rapper whose music taps into the Toyoko kids’ desperation; the youth worker who runs a small cafe where Toyoko kids can get a meal and experience some safety; and the father who, after losing his daughter to suicide, takes to the streets in order to better understand the Toyoko kids and their plight.