Documentary backdrop image for Tobishima (2020)

Documentary backdrop image for Tobishima (2020)

202099 minGdocumentary

Tobishima

202099 minGdocumentary

One junior high school student will graduate this year as Tobishima Elementary and Junior High School closes, marking a significant change for the island's community.

Genres

Directors

Synopsis

One junior high school student will graduate this year as Tobishima Elementary and Junior High School closes, marking a significant change for the island's community.

People

Kei Tanaka

Kei Tanakadirector

Kôichi Omiyadirector

Synopsis

Tobishima, a small island in the Sea of Japan, faces significant change as its only junior high school student prepares to graduate. Tobishima Elementary and Junior High School will close at the end of the school year. The film presents the daily lives of the island's residents, capturing their efforts to sustain the community. It follows their attempts to connect the island to the future amid an aging population and dwindling resources.

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

Totoganashi (2024)

Totoganashi

Yusei Ikariyama, a former delinquent turned pro surfer, leads a community movement to protect Amami Ōshima's coastline from industrial development.

Japan first the rest will follow (2026)

Japan first the rest will follow

Japan's aging population, with 36 million citizens over 65, faces societal challenges addressed through innovative community care models in Tokyo and Kiryu City.

Japan first the rest will follow

Planet Earth: Japan (2023)

Planet Earth: Japan

Yonaguni, a small island of 29 square kilometers, is home to a community that practices ancestor worship and maintains unique cultural traditions.

Planet Earth: Japan

The Tropical Paradise Being Swallowed By The Pacific (2018)

The Tropical Paradise Being Swallowed By The Pacific

Kiribati, a nation of 115,000 people, faces the imminent threat of disappearing due to rising sea levels caused by climate change.

The Tropical Paradise Being Swallowed By The Pacific

Japan Child Suicide Epidemic Driven by School Discipline (2007)

Japan Child Suicide Epidemic Driven by School Discipline

Japan's education system, characterized by strict discipline and conformity, contributes to a culture of bullying and rising child suicides, as highlighted by tragic personal stories.

Japan Child Suicide Epidemic Driven by School Discipline

The Boy On The Bike - Japan (2011)

The Boy On The Bike - Japan

Rikuzentakata, once a vibrant town, faced devastation from Japan's worst earthquake and tsunami, prompting reporter Mark Willacy to seek out its resilient residents.

The Boy On The Bike - Japan

One Word (2025)

One Word

In the Marshall Islands, residents share their experiences and challenges as climate change threatens their homes and way of life.

The Ghosts of Fukushima (2026)

The Ghosts of Fukushima

In Fukushima, Japan, the lingering effects of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster have resulted in a population decline of 180,000 residents.

The Ghosts of Fukushima

Japan's Worst Nuclear Disaster Still Haunts Fukushima (2021)

Japan's Worst Nuclear Disaster Still Haunts Fukushima

Ten years later, Fukushima, Japan, still faces the impact of the nuclear disaster and population decline.

Japan's Worst Nuclear Disaster Still Haunts Fukushima

Princess Mononoke: A Documentary Across Japan's Most Sacred Island (2026)

Princess Mononoke: A Documentary Across Japan's Most Sacred Island

Yakushima, Japan's ancient forest island, served as the inspiration for a Studio Ghibli epic, showcasing its breathtaking landscapes and unique flora.

Princess Mononoke: A Documentary Across Japan's Most Sacred Island

Explore Tobishima

Where else to watch

The Making of a Japanese (2024)

The Making of a Japanese

2024•1h39m•★7.3TMDB

Sixth graders at a public elementary school in Tokyo learn essential traits for integration into Japanese society alongside first graders.

The Making of a Japanese

Inland Sea (2018)

Inland Sea

2018•2h2m•★7.4TMDB

86-year-old Wai-chan fishes alone from his small boat in Ushimado, a village in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, while dreaming of retirement.

Nuclear Nation (2012)

Nuclear Nation

2012•2h25m•★6.5TMDB

150 miles separate residents of Futaba from their homes as they relocate to an abandoned high school in Tokyo following the Fukushima disaster.

Our School (2007)

Our School

2007•2h11m•★5.7TMDB

Ethnic Korean students at Chosen elementary, middle, and high school in Hokkaido, Japan, navigate their education within a pro-North Korean environment.

Children of the Tsunami (2012)

Children of the Tsunami

2012•1h18m•★5.5TMDB

Seventy-four children lost their lives at a primary school during the March 11, 2011 tsunami in Japan, impacting the lives of survivors aged 7 to 10.

Children of the Tsunami

Browse more like this

Planet Earth: Japan (2023)

Planet Earth: Japan

Yonaguni, a small island of 29 square kilometers, is home to a community that practices ancestor worship and maintains unique cultural traditions.

Planet Earth: Japan

No digital watch option in your country

One Word (2025)

One Word

In the Marshall Islands, residents share their experiences and challenges as climate change threatens their homes and way of life.

No digital watch option in your country

The Ghosts of Fukushima (2026)

The Ghosts of Fukushima

In Fukushima, Japan, the lingering effects of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster have resulted in a population decline of 180,000 residents.

The Ghosts of Fukushima

No digital watch option in your country

W/O (2000)

W/O

2000•1h•★8.0TMDB

Two years of conflict between students and the University of Tokyo preceded the demolition of Komaba Dormitory.

Bookmark 14 (2021)

Bookmark 14

2021•2h1m•★5.0TMDB

Thirty-five students from a second-year junior high school class in Japan share their experiences of adolescence and the challenges of puberty.

Living Through March 11, 2011 - Words That Remember The Great East Japan Earthquake- (2012)

Living Through March 11, 2011 - Words That Remember The Great East Japan Earthquake-

2012•1h37m•★5.0TMDB

3,943 people were reported dead or missing in Ishinomaki after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, including 182 elementary school children.

Living Through March 11, 2011 - Words That Remember The Great East Japan Earthquake-

Kiribati: Words From a Last Generation (2017)

Kiribati: Words From a Last Generation

A generation of youth in Kiribati faces an uncertain future as their island nation is projected to be submerged due to climate change.

Kiribati: Words From a Last Generation

Browse more by Kei Tanaka

View all films →

Under the Cherry Tree (2016)

Under the Cherry Tree

2016

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →