Synopsis:
Children of the Sun is a 50 min documentary shot in a reality TV style about rediscovering true identity for the youth of Japan and how that can reignite meaning and purpose in life.

Sparked by the recent spike in teen suicides in Japan John LaDue, an American journalist and lifelong resident of japan, takes viewers on a journey to discover keys to bring Japan’s youth out of their vicious cycle of despair.

John’s guide, Miko Fujiko, a Japanese shrine maiden and shinto expert, organizes farm field trips for children to learn Japan’s agricultural and historical roots. By experiencing planting rice by hand, and harvesting fruits and vegetables, the children see how the food they eat is brought to life by the sun.

Fujiko believes rediscovering Japan’s historical roots and ritual will bring young people out of their disillusionment and tendency to withdraw. John was taught by his Japanese elementary school teachers that after WWII many people in Japan lived in severe poverty. But then Japan experienced an economic miracle to become a society rivaling any developed nation.

But what is not taught is that Japanese military leaders during the war tarnished the nation’s ancient Shinto belief system. They abused it to militarize the whole population of Japan. The new constitution developed by the US also cut out all ties to Japan’s spiritual past, for fear Japanese leaders could use it once again to mobilize the Japanese to war.

Fujiko is concerned that Japan’s youth are cut off from the narrative of their past, and have been doomed to wander without a roadmap in a western capitalistic modern society.

The film’s narrative unfolds to follow storylines of the young adults on the field trip. We hear them share personal stories about the stresses at school and home, speaking despairingly about their imagined future adult lives.

Later, in talking with John, Fujiko echoes their sentiment. She offers a possible roadmap to a more meaningful future.

Fujiko takes the young adults and John on a tour of the grand imperial shrine of Ise Jingu. Their guide and historian Yusaku Tsutumi explains how the shrine is modeled after King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem destroyed by the Babylonians millenia ago.

The Ise shrine was built by the ancient Hata clan, a lost tribe of Israel who followed the silk road first emigrating to China and then crossing the Sea of Japan.

Tsutumi also shows the linguistic and cultural connections between Japan and Israel including the Star of David adorning stone lantern pillars in the shrine.

John is intrigued by this ancient and significant connection between ancient Japan and the lost tribes of Israel and consults with several historians and archeologists 

This investigation leads him, Fujiko, and several young adults in her program to Israel where they meet Eli Eliahu Cohen, the former Israeli ambassador to Japan, and author of ‘God Country Japan.’ Cohen tells of his research into the traces of the lost ten tribes in Japan and his investigation and journey to find the lost Arc of the Covenant possibly buried at an archaeological site at Mt Tsurugi.

After returning to Japan, John, Fujiko and the young adults visit a newly built history amusement park next to the Ise Shrine in Kyoto. A theme park where people can watch concerts and go on rides exploring ancient Japan. The park organizers want to share to the people of Japan the importance of their historical roots and legends of their past. And how their culture was influenced by ancient Israel 1000s of miles away.

Children of the Sun closes with Fujiko performing a ritual prayer dance. It symbolizes hope as a smoking wick that should not be snuffed out. The dance shows her continued commitment to being a faithful steward to that small flame of hope, that though frail, is nearly impossible to kill.