In the mountains of the Edo Period Japan, when a blind woman’s samurai father is killed by a young samurai avenging his own father’s death, she agrees to be escorted to the nearest village, but she’s not as helpless as she appears.

Director’s Vision for ‘Yae: Blind Samurai Woman’

I was born and raised in Japan. I grew up watching samurai TV shows every week. After I came to the United States, I noticed many films and televisions which include samurai don’t portray Japanese culture correctly. I was shocked that the production did not consult with the Japanese filmmakers and make films/shows without using a Japanese director. I know there are multiple projects related to samurai in development in IMDBpro, but I am really worried that they might ruin the projects without knowing or understanding how the samurai films/TV shows should be made. After filming a short film version of this series, I feel confident that people can see my vision, of how samurai shows should be made in an authentic way in English.

Japan is a country where many people hold the traditional idea. Women are considered to be more submissive to men and men are expected to protect and provide for women. I grew up with the idea of samurai, being polite to others, and being respectful to everyone. I understand the core values of the Japanese people.

When I moved to the United States, I realized that there are multiple ethnicities, cultures, religions, sexual orientations, and languages and everyone has a different background and opinions. I thought that one person’s justice is different from others. After that, whenever I have a confrontation with others, I have always strived to understand where they are coming from.

People have always underestimated me. I have had to fight to change everyone’s impression of me. I am a tiny Asian immigrant with an accent who looks extremely feminine. Everyone wrongly assumes that I make romantic comedies. However, the real I am a woman who is far from the traditional idea of a woman in Japan, super-independent, who thinks outside of the box and is curious about the new world. I always tell stories that betray expectations, from different points of view. This is a common theme in all of my films.

Yae, the main character in the story, is a fighter. Yae has a disadvantage but she makes efforts to overcome it. And her quality is the same as mine who had to overcome so many things to be a filmmaker in the United States.