Cannes Lions

A Century In The Making

JOHN ST., Toronto / MITSUBISHI / 2018

Film

Overview

Entries

Credits

Overview

Description

In this documentary, we meet four Japanese centenarians who have embraced the Kaizen philosophy of constant, continual improvement, just like Mitsubishi has for the last 100 years.

Japan's first female photojournalist, a world-renowned artist who dedicated her life to painting The Silk Road, a traditional Japanese sweets maker who still goes to work every day, and a Kendo Master Swordsman are the stars. And while they have all lead very different lives, their common thread is their incredible willpower. And unwillingness to stop chasing perfection.

Execution

For this film, we weren’t just casting 100-year-olds, we needed to find very specific centenarians with very specific passions that draw a direct parallel to Mitsubishi’s history, who all also live by the Kaizen philosophy. Which lead on a search for four perfect people in a country with 65,000 centenarians, narrowing it down to interviewing 50 remotely, then flying us to four corners of Japan to find our final four. Tsuneko - Japan’s first female photojournalist and representative of Mitsubishi’s rich history of building first-of-their-kind vehicles for 100 years. Kimi - Traditional Japanese sweets maker crafting better sweets than ever 100 years later, just like Mitsubishi’s designers. Hirokata – Kendo Master Swordsman who has dominated competitions his entirely in the same Mitsubishi has dominated the rally circuit. Kazuko – World-renowned artist who thinks only about what to paint next, like how Mitsubishi constantly looks to the future.

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