Moved by a visit to an orphanage for disabled children in Shanghai, Taeko Yoshihara felt the urge to do something to help. So she teamed up with a Chinese film production company to make a movie based on her experience.
The 33-year-old Japanese mother of Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, wrote the script for the movie, had it translated into Chinese, took it to the production company and had it filmed.
Titled "Blue Moon," the movie, about a Japanese orphan in China, will be screened at a civic hall in her hometown several times this month, and plans are being made to take it to cinemas elsewhere in Japan, as well as to China and other countries. The movie is mainly in Chinese, with Japanese subtitles.
Yoshihara gave the film its title in order to compare the moon to people born in an unfavorable environment. "It is said that the Earth shines blue with life but the moon doesn't as it has none. I wanted to send out the message that people who aren't born in a favorable environment can also shine and shed blue light if they try," she said.