Educational Media Reviews Online

The phrase "concrete jungle" conjures up urban ghettoes or, at least, urban landscapes in this reviewer's mind, so it took her some time to absorb the difference in meaning intended here, where it is used to refer to unnecessary and undesirable public works. (In the U.S., we might call that "pork barrel projects.") The point of Japan: concrete jungle is to highlight and criticize Japan's enormous public works program, which the authors of this ABC Australia documentary consider wasteful and dangerous to the well-being of Japan's economy.

Footage of some of the huge public works being criticized is interspersed with interviews of economists and other leading figures, many of whom are not identified, and scenes of destitute men congregating aimlessly or being fed on the dole. Many of the destitute men are elderly, unemployed workers who depended for their livelihoods on public works the nation can no longer afford, if, in fact, it ever could in the past. A few of the interviewees speak English, but there are no English subtitles for the lengthy remarks made by the Japanese-speakers, of whom there are many. This reviewer finds it hard to believe all Australians, who probably are the primary audience for this piece, understand Japanese; but she is pretty sure that few viewers in ordinary American audiences do.

The camerawork is excellent, except that we see a few shots over and over. In a short piece like this, there seems to be no excuse for the amount of repetition, unless the authors thought their audience would not be able to retain any image for very long. One of the repeated views is of a new bridge between Osaka and a minor rural island that were already connected by two functioning bridges. While this bridge is, possibly, the most ambitious and costly of the wasteful public works being described, it is still just one project. Showing it many times might have a negative effect, leading viewers to believe that there is not much else to show.

If not for the gaps in understanding caused by the mystery speakers and the lack of English subtitles for the Japanese commentaries as well as an absence of sources that document quoted statistics, this could be recommended. However, given those conditions, which detract from the work's impact and credibility, and the repetitious nature of the visuals, it is not recommended.