![]() It took two months to complete the movie which is giving a close-up on the worsening class society, working poor and people seeking refuge at internet cafes and was also shown on a british film festival. But to whom did I lose? Whose slave am I? Society shouldn’t talk about my feelings so selfishly!” No, rather let himself speak. Iwabuchi says: “I’m called a looser or a slave. And the scene where he’s gorging a snack, which is not clear what it is (maybe he himself doesn’t know either), but that doesn’t matter ’cause it is something to eat, also bursts with living will. Just look at his somewhat zombie-like morning face! But he’s eating and is far from being dead. Watching him gulping his breakfast bowl of rice with nattoshows that he’s wiling to resist death. The scenes in which he eats show this message the most impressive. So the message of his documentary is: “I don’t want to die!” ![]() But Iwabuchi doesn’t want to complain all the time although he feels unlucky of course. Then he and an assisting writer talk about his severe financial situation. ![]() The temporary workers aren’t even allowed to use the trash cans freely. Iwabuchi tells us that no matter how long one will work for the temporary employment agency there won’t be a wage raise. With his movie we catch a glimpse of the life of a freeter from a first-hand perspective. The protagonist of this home-made movie is a freeter himself, called Iwabuchi Hiroki (26), and is working as temporary worker for three years since his graduation. Those who don’t make it into a company are most likely to enter the makegumi (looser-group) for it is almost impossible to get a regular job later. The Japanese labour market expects students to enter a company right after completing their studies, so they actually spend their last year at university with job hunting instead of studying. Most of them didn’t choose to become a freeter but since Japan’s economic recession finding a regular job is very difficult for young Japanese. But today, the meaning became the opposite and being a freeter now means to belong to the losers of society. Some 20 years ago it really meant freedom and was a positive expression referring to Japanese who managed to escape from the restricted business world of Japan. The expression stems from the english “free” and the german “Arbeiter” (worker), literally meaning “free worker”. Freeter (フリーター) is a japanese expression for someone who is employed only as temporary worker. A friend just called my attention to a home-made movie of a freeter. ![]()
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