ONLINE EVENT - The Japan Society Film Club: Campaign directed by Kazuhiro Soda
Date
Wednesday 2 September 2026
Time
6.30pm (BST)
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Booking Details
Online meeting on Zoom
Please register for the meeting in advance from the link below. After registering, you will receive an automated confirmation email with meeting access details (please check your spam folder if you don't receive any emails).
Free for members of The Japan Society
Please remember to watch the film in advance. Campaign is available to rent on dafilms.com or to watch with subscription on Guidedoc.
Please help us to keep this event free and open to all!The Japan Society is a charity and its activities are made possible thanks to the support of its members. If you are planning to attend this event and are not a member (as an individual or through your employer), please consider becoming a member or making a donation if you can - the recommended donation is £5. Thank you!   |
In the September Film Club, we will discuss Kazuhiro Soda’s political documentary Campaign (2007), an unvarnished portrait of a novice candidate navigating the rigid world of Japanese local elections.
A revealing portrait of Japanese grassroots politics, Campaign follows Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, a mild‑mannered stamp and coin shop owner suddenly chosen by the Liberal Democratic Party to run in a local by‑election. With no ties to the community and no political experience, Yamaguchi is thrust into Miyamae Ward, where he becomes the centre of an intense, highly choreographed street‑level campaign. As he marches, bows, and chants through neighbourhoods under the watchful guidance of seasoned party operatives, Kazuhiro Soda crafts a quietly incisive documentary that exposes the rigid rituals, pressures, and surreal demands of Japan’s electoral machinery.
Kazuhiro Soda (born 1970) is a Japanese documentary filmmaker known for his observational, minimalist approach to non‑fiction cinema. After studying filmmaking in New York, he developed his signature “observational method,” minimizing narration, interviews, and directorial intervention in favour of patient, unfiltered observation. His breakthrough film, Campaign (2007), offered a sharp, quietly humorous look at Japanese local politics and established him internationally. Soda has since created a celebrated body of work, including Mental (2008), Peace (2010), and Inland Sea (2018), each marked by empathy, clarity, and rigorous attention to everyday life.