A Korean school in Japan fought 18 years just to play rugby. Then came the real battle.
Osaka Korean High School has provided education for the past six decades to the children of pro-North Korean residents in Japan. This school is located only about 20 minutes away from Hanazono Stadium, the mecca of Japan’s high school rugby, but it was not until 1994, 18 years after the foundation of a rugby team at the high school, that the Japanese education ministry approved the team’s entry into the official league. Since then, the team has run in the national league as a representative of the Osaka area and been considered a front-runner ever since. The team has strong players and passionate supporters, but it faces difficulties just before winning the league.
Direction
Park Sa-yu lets silence scream louder than any commentary.
Editing
Match footage intercut with family letters—devastating.
Director
Park Sa-yu
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zainichi Koreans in Japan still carry 'special permanent resident' status—a bureaucratic euphemism born from colonialism that the film never explains, letting the weight sit on your chest instead.
The school exists in a legal gray zone: Japan refuses to fund it, North Korea can't, yet alumni include Olympians who still can't get Japanese passports. The rugby team's survival is literally crowdfunding and pride.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
KR
