We recently connected with Akiko Izumitani and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Akiko thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

Here is my story to execute an idea to make a short film called “Yae: Blind Samurai Woman.”

Back then, before SHOGUN, Hollywood was all about ‘writing your voice.’ I kept watching television shows and movies that had samurai in them, but they were strange to Japanese eyes, so I thought maybe I should make a samurai film so no one would say I don’t have enough experience when someone tries to hire me for a samurai movie.

My co-writer, James ‘Doc’ Mason, previously asked me to write a script for African Samurai, “Sasuke,” but we decided not to pursue it at the time because a famous actor announced that he would make the movie. I asked him if he would be interested in writing an original samurai film with me, and he accepted. I then realized that I had always made movies with male protagonists. I told him that I wanted to write a story about a woman this time.

First, we wanted to know if there would be actors who could play Samurai in Los Angeles. My actor friend, Masa, had previously done a stageplay of a samurai, so I asked him if I could see their training. They were great at doing the sword choreography, but I was unsure how well an actress could do it. I told James, ‘Why don’t we make her blind, so she doesn’t have to be perfect for sword choreography? And her movement can be a unique style.’ Then he said, ‘Why don’t we make her a healer with a special power?’

In the beginning, I was not sure about his idea because I was going to make a traditional samurai film, but he changed my mind. Having a fantasy side will open so many doors in the story. So I told him we could give this character the healing power, but I want to give her some weakness; for example, if she uses her healing power, she will lose her eyesight. That’s how we created a significant concept of the story.

The main character, Yae, is the role model I want to be, and she somehow portrays me. A man once told me I should make movies that a female director should make. When I asked him what kind of films a female director makes, his answer was ‘romantic comedies.’ You can guess I had to give him a lecture about it. I needed Yae in this film to break everyone’s expectations and make everyone respect her. This character will let people realize that the girl who looks so weak and helpless is kind, independent, strong, and has a high sense of morality. I also wanted to ask the audience a big question: Is your justice true justice? And I hope the audience thinks about it for a while after they watch my film because that’s why I became a filmmaker.

We spent a whole year, trying to create a great story. After many discussions and revisions, I finally said it became ready for me to spend time and money.

Then I asked Masa if he knew a good stunt coordinator. He introduced me to Tsuyoshi. I explained to him what I was trying to do and showed him the videos of certain moves, and he agreed to help me. Then Tsuyoshi gave me a wooden sword and said “I want you to know what you plan to put your actors do.” Then he charged at me with the sword. It was scary. I quickly realized I could not hire an average actress and train with my limited budget. I needed to find an actress who is already trained. After some auditions, I was lucky to meet Yuwi Kim. She had a perfect look. She could do the sword choreography. And she could act.

Yuwi and I met once a week for acting rehearsal. We discussed how a blind person behaves and uses her other senses to feel the world. I asked her to walk, fall, and look for a blind stick with her eyes closed so she could feel what it was like not to see things. She also researched on her own. The funny story is that she could not see anything when she wore the white contact lenses in the last sequence. She was scared and told me she could not do the choreography with those contact lenses. I told her that all she had to do was stand up, step forward slowly, turn, and swing her sword. And she did. So, in the last scene, she was effectively blind.

I told stunt coordinator Tsuyoshi I wanted the fight between Kiyomasa, Yae’s father, and Masanobu to be a traditional samurai fight, but the battle between Yae and Masanobu should be unique. Yae can’t see, and she grew up on the mountain, so her strange movement would throw him off, causing him to panic. Also, Masanobu was tired from a previous fight with her father. He was injured. He didn’t really want to kill her. She knew her surroundings. But the biggest reason she won was because Masanobu didn’t know how to fight against a person with this unique style. In my head, I was calling it ‘Monkey style.’ Picture an angry monkey fighting against a professional martial artist. 
I loved it when Tsuyoshi showed me Yae striking behind her without facing her opponent. Imagine how difficult it was for Masanobu to fight when he couldn’t see her face and how her hands moved to predict the blade’s movement.

While Tsuyoshi was creating choreography with actors, I drove all over Los Angeles, trying to find a location that looked like Japan in the Edo period. Finding the location in Los Angeles was incredibly difficult. I spent about six months trying to find the right spot. My location assistant friend took me to several spots with a stream, but you could see houses behind trees or electrical wires. I drove around LA, Santa Clarita and the San Gabriel Mountains every weekend. Everything looked like dry land. I started giving up on the idea of shooting a samurai film in LA.
Then, my friend took me to a trail with a stream. I thought this would work. I saw a blind woman walking onto this trail with another man. How often do you meet a blind person hiking? I ran up and asked if I could ask them some questions. The hiker gave me many insights about being a blind person. The person helping her suggested that I check out Switzer Falls because we could park right next to the stream. So, I drove up to Switzer Falls, walked along the trail and decided to film there. We only received a permit to shoot 10 days before the principal photography. It was a miracle.

When the principal photography started, I felt the location still looked like California. I was nervous that people wouldn’t believe this was in Japan during the Edo period. I thought I might waste my money. Then, the actor, Nobu, showed up in a Kimono. It changed the dynamic of the set. We felt we were in Japan during the Edo period. Then, Yuwi, showed up. She was “Yae” for real. I had never been so impressed by an actor’s performance like that.

After many equipment and catering issues, we finished shooting this film in three days. After many all-night vigils during the post-production, I finally completed the film, screened it at several film festivals, and won some awards. Then, I posted it on YouTube. That’s when I realized that many people have been waiting to watch something like this. It received over 500,000 views in a few months and received many compliments from people all over the world.

James and I felt the characters we created in this film were unique, and the film’s message is so important that we decided to make it into a movie. We wrote a feature version. So, this project will continue to be a new feature film.

Akiko, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Akiko Izumitani is a female director/writer born and raised in Kyoto, Japan, now based in Los Angeles. Akiko first earned recognition through her feature-length documentary, “Silent Shame” (2010). It won numerous awards worldwide, including Best Feature in the Beijing Movie Festival, and had a screening at an Oscar Qualified film festival. Several years later, Akiko directed “Kung Fu Date,” which won the Remi Award at the Houston Film Festival, and “Sukiyaki with Love” (Semi-Finalist of NBCUniversal Shortcuts). Her action short film, “The Other Side” won The Best Short Film at Sacramento Asian Film Festival and ECA Award by ICG and had a screening sponsored by ICG at DGA.

Her latest samurai action fantasy film, “Yae: Blind Samurai Woman” premiered at the LA’s largest film festival, Dances with Films Film Festival at the Chinese Theatre and several Oscar qualified film festivals including the Austin Film Festival. “Yae: Blind Samurai Woman” premiered on YouTube in January 2023, and it got more than 500,000 views in 2 months.

Akiko also worked as a production assistant for major studio films and television shows such as Bullet Train, Snake Eyes, and Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and understood the production flow of union shoots.

Akiko was a finalist of the Women of Color Commercial Directing Program (Top 10 out of 100+) in 2020, a semi-finalist of NBC Female Forward (Top 20 out of 1000) in 2018, Sony Directors Program (Top 25 out of 250) in 2017, and 2019, and ABC Director’s Program in 2014. She was also considered for an episodic director of AMC’s The Terror Season 2 by Scott Free. Akiko was selected as one of the top rising Asian American filmmakers in 2013.

Akiko is currently working as a supervising producer for Aniplex of America. She supervises English Dubbing projects such as Sword Art Online, NieR:Automata, Mashle: Magic and Muscles, and many more. She has delivered five theatrical movies in 2024, including Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Rascal Does Not Dream series, and Gurren Lagann, to theaters all over the U.S.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met my co-writer, James ‘Doc’ Mason in Santa Monica Screenwriting group. We meet every month to read each other’s script and give constructive criticism so they can improve the draft. James is the second longest member in the group. I’m the longest in this group. We know each other for a long time and read each other’s many scripts.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Storybinder’s YouTube Videos about screenwriting.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: DirectorAkiko
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akiko.izumitani/
• Twitter: https://x.com/DirectorAkiko
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@directorakiko