Those spirits come haunting again. The spirits of the past knocking on today’s reality. Whispering words that are unheard; of trauma that is hidden beneath.
In director Arief Budiman’s visit to Japan in January of 2024, his first visit to the Land of Sakura, these spirits came to him. In the liminality of the seen and unseen, voices of a girl whispered to him. These voices then seep into his unconscious, trying to inform him of something.
Shadow of the Sakura (2025) stretches the possibilities of mystic logic surrounding the existence of spirits. This question is not merely an interrogation on belief. However, it acts as a spark that bridges us toward a larger narrative, of the ianfu. Montages of archival footage, travel recordings, portraits of old buildings, and reconstructed imagery are used to reproduce the memories of those lingering spirits of the past. Layers of soundscapes are made heard, submerging us ever so deeply into another realm—the world of the past.
The tragic history of the ianfu marks the old wounds that contain deep scars on the lives of its survivors. Over three and a half years, young women in Indonesia became victims of sexual violence at the hands of Japanese soldiers. During this period of occupation, girls between the ages of 13 and 18 were forced into servitude, made to “serve” desires against their will. It was an experience shared by many young women across nations occupied by Imperial Japan.
Today, the victims of ianfu are no longer with us, leaving behind remnants of trauma and grief that never truly fades away. Through a performative approach, director Arief conducts an imagined interview with the restless spirits still seeking justice. Channeled through the presence of a Javanese woman, the interview unravels trauma, wounds, and memories that remain deeply etched. Then, through these voices from the past, we are taken to the remnants of the ianjo—rooms that bore witness to the tragedy of sexual slavery experienced by the ianfu women.
Rooms filled with stains, rusted beds, traces of blood, and the decrepit building stand as silent witnesses to a human tragedy. Throughout this 28-minute film, one location fades into another, later interweaving with other archival images. Testimony after testimony emerges. Old wounds are reopened, simultaneously uncovering a history once tightly buried and nearly forgotten. The voices of these spirits still echo through layers of soundscapes. At the same time, archival images are processed and manipulated through AI to reconstruct reality itself. The world remains haunted by trauma and unhealed wounds. Their memories have long escaped our histories.
These spirits of the past have never found their warranted peace. They carry with them fragments of testimony, demanding justice to this day. Perhaps the victims of those war crimes have vanished from this tangible world. But history endures, forever becoming the ghost of the past that continues to wander among us. (Ahmad Radhitya Alam) (Ed/Trans. Timmie)
Film Details
Shadow of the Sakura
Arief Budiman | 28 min | 2025 | D.I. Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Japan
Official Selection for Lanskap
Festival Film Dokumenter 2025
