About the film

The ones left behind: The plight of single mothers in Japan is a documentary unlike any other, that delves deep into Japanese society, culture, and history, to give the viewer a very different view of the Japan that we think we know.

Told through the eyes of battle-hardened single mothers and expert professors and business leaders living in Japan, The ones left behind: The plight of single mothers in Japan depicts the hardships that single mothers in Japan face, as well as Japanese society’s hidden poverty that has occurred in-spite of Japan's rapid economic growth in such a short period of time immediately following World War II.

The film unravels the causes of the unequal social background that Japan finds itself in and will appeal to people's hearts and minds of people to rethink the state of Japan, a nation that is not functioning properly, and how social support should be provided by communicating the current situation that the world finds itself in.

About the director

Rionne McAvoy is a documentary filmmaker originally hailing from the Gold Coast in Australia. Now residing in Tokyo, Japan, for over 17 years, Rionne is fully bilingual in English and Japanese.

Rionne grew up in South East Queensland, Australia, and at the age of 19 went to Japan for an 8 week karate training trip and fell in love with the country. Putting his IT university studies on hold and returning to Japan 1 year later on a working holiday visa, Rionne spent 18 months living and working in Japan, including spending the last 8 months living with a Japanese host family. Realizing the need to complete his college education, Rionne returned to Australia and enrolled in a full time Japanese language degree at Griffith University. In the middle of those studies, Rionne spent 1 year as an international exchange student at Seikei University. Upon graduation from Griffith, Rionne returned to Japan where he has lived ever since.