Prime Minister's Office of Japan

Side by Side: Africa Inspires New Opportunities in Japan

As part of their general marketing campaigns that go beyond tourism and investment, the Prime Minister’s Office of Japan also enjoy speaking to the world about Japan and the nation’s outreach endeavors on a global scale, especially highlighting stories about Japanese individuals seeking out ways to create bridges and friendships outside of Japan.

Working with CNN Create, we set out to create a short documentary intertwining two inspirational stories from Africa. The first, about United Arrows’s Hirofumi Kurino utilizing sustainable fabrics in his designs created by ateliers in Burkina Faso, and the other, about Mami Rudasingwa, a Japanese woman in Rwanda with a passion for helping provide prosthetics to those that need them most.

Check out some of the awesome safari footage we captured for b-roll that didn’t make it into the final cut: