Photo/Illutration Tatsuhito Utagawa, representative director of the Japanese Film Project (JFP), right, and Kanako Kondo, the director of the JFP, meet reporters in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on July 5. (Misuzu Sato)

Female directors are still relatively rare in the domestic film industry, accounting for a paltry 12 percent of those who helmed Japanese movies that hit theaters in 2021, a survey shows.

The Japanese Film Project (JFP), which is committed to closing the gender gap and improving working conditions in the movie industry, said 16 live-action titles that pulled in 1 billion yen ($7.2 million) or more at the Japanese box office were all directed by men.

It based the finding on the gender of 471 directors.

Female directors totaled 9 percent and 11 percent in 2019 and 2020, respectively. It said no significant improvement had been seen since then.

The percentages of women involved in lighting, recording and editing processes also remain abysmal with no major improvement in those figures over the past three years, it added.

“The industry now has a firm reputation as being cliquey with no progress being made,” said Tatsuhito Utagawa, representative director of the JFP. “Nothing will change unless aggressive action is taken.”

The study also looked into live-action films created or distributed by four major companies: Toho Co., Toei Co., Shochiku Co. and Kadokawa Corp. They constitute the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan Inc.

Of their 42 works this year so far, female directors accounted for 9.5 percent of the total. One in 20 directors was a woman over the course of four years from 2019.

The female ratio in the four firms’ executive officers and board members averaged no more than 8 percent, the survey found.

Kanako Kondo, the director of the JFP, said things must change.

“Taking into account that films reflect society like mirrors, gender imbalance is unacceptable in this day and age,” she said. “If leading film companies’ executives adopt this viewpoint, the situation will dramatically change.”

Utagawa threw his full support by the comment.

“How film enterprises tackle issues linked to their business and human rights, including the working environment and social inclusion, is now being called into question,” said Utagawa.

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