FEEL IT.STREAM
Naotoshi Kitada

Naotoshi Kitada

Directing

Biography

Born in 1968, he studied film editing under renowned editor Akira Suzuki while immersing himself in experimental filmmaking at the Image Forum in Yotsuya. At the age of 18, an 8mm film he directed won the Excellence Award at the Japan Visual Festival, organized by Nippon Television. From the age of 25, he spent the next ten years producing the 35mm feature film Inu (Dog), working almost entirely on his own. Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, he documented the many animals left behind in the evacuation zone. Since then, he has been actively engaged in raising awareness of and addressing animal welfare issues in Japan.

Known For

Animal Protection Law

Exposing the Contradictions and Deception Behind Japan's Animal Welfare Act. In 2017, a former tax accountant was arrested for a series of cat killings in Saitama Prefecture. Despite the shocking brutality of the crimes, the court sentenced him only to a suspended prison term for violating the Animal Welfare Act—a ruling many viewed as little more than an empty gesture. The case horrified the nation, and more than 220,000 people signed petitions calling for a harsher punishment. Troubled by the glaring disconnect between public sentiment and the judicial system, the director spent four years conducting an independent investigation, confronting numerous animal abusers in an effort to uncover the deeper issues surrounding animal cruelty. What ultimately emerged was a deeply ironic picture: a legal system whose contradictions and shortcomings make Japan's Animal Welfare Act appear almost as if it were designed to protect animal abusers rather than their victims.

Animal Protection Law

2021Movie
Hidden Contamination

The 20 km zone surrounding the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant was designated an evacuation zone due to the radiation caused by the accident in March 2011. However, the thousands of people of Itate, situated just outside the zone, and those who had fled the area and taken shelter there were left to their own devices for over a month. Later on Itate became a restricted area and the residents were allowed only visits having to leave the area for good. The place became a ghost town, as it was too close to the Zone and many pets and farm animals are stranded there. There are said to be 150~200 dogs, 400~800 cats, 50 chickens and a pig although the exact numbers are unknown. The public interest in the accident has all but gone but there is one man who still cares what happens to those animals.

Hidden Contamination

2015Movie