coming spring 2027
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Trailer
Story
A beautiful cookie wrapped in plastic. A single strawberry, cushioned in five layers of wrapping. A blinking vending machine selling colorful PET bottles on every street corner. As Japan grapples with its addiction to plastic, PLASTIC LOVE! delves deep into the art of packaging to uncover how this island nation—once a global leader in its almost spiritual connection to materials—has come to embody the very paradox at the heart of our global waste crisis.
Through the interwoven stories of Japan’s waste workers and packaging artisans, we journey into a world where trash and care for materials coexist. From mascot-clad garbage trucks to the roaring furnaces of Tokyo’s incinerators and the hands of traditional artisans, PLASTIC LOVE! paints a portrait of a nation caught between the wisdom of its past and its culture of excess. By zooming into the microscopic world of Japan’s materials—straw, leaves, lacquer, and plastic — we ask what we choose to discard, what we choose to cherish, and what it will take to break the global cycle of wastefulness.
Through the interwoven stories of Japan’s waste workers and packaging artisans, we journey into a world where trash and care for materials coexist. From mascot-clad garbage trucks to the roaring furnaces of Tokyo’s incinerators and the hands of traditional artisans, PLASTIC LOVE! paints a portrait of a nation caught between the wisdom of its past and its culture of excess. By zooming into the microscopic world of Japan’s materials—straw, leaves, lacquer, and plastic — we ask what we choose to discard, what we choose to cherish, and what it will take to break the global cycle of wastefulness.
PLASTIC LOVE!
Unwrapping Japan’s Toxic Affair With Plastic
Documentary FilmLength: 84min
Original Language: Japanese
Subtitles: Japanese, English
Cast
MAMORU KAMATA — FishermanMICHINAO SUENAGA— Director of Tsushima CAPPA
YUJI SAKAI —
Straw Artisan, Nagano
AKIRA SAKANO —
President of Zero Waste Japan
KOMICHI IKEDA —Exec. Vice Director, Environmental Research Institute (ERI)
YUZURU OIKAWA — Zama City, Garbage Truck DriverTAISUKE SATO — Zama City, Garbage Truck Driver
TOMOMI YAMAGUCHI —Resident, Kamikatsu Town
TOHRU TSUJI—Lacquer Artist, Ibaraki
ETSUKO YAMADA —
Furoshiki Artist
MASARU OKAMOTO —Waste Worker, Minato Resource Recycling Center
...and many more