The Rice Paddies
An Irish Story - from Japan
' There was this Irishman ...'; actually there were 11 Irishmen and this isn't a funny story. Not really. But there were 11 Irishmen and they did go to Japan; they work for a Japanese company which has built a factory in County Mayo, an area with a strong salmon poaching tradition but little experience of modern industry. The Japanese thought that some of its new Irish staff should have a training course at their factory at the foot of Mount Fuji. This film is the story of their journey of discovery into Japan, not just as tourists to visit the Geisha and the Ginza, but as workers in one of the most successful industrial nations in the world.
What the Irish learned in Fuji was not just technical-they also learned about the Japanese workers' attitudes to their work which is very different from that usually found in the West. Through Irish eyes we see why traditional Japan is largely responsible for the difference.
Film cameraman KEN LOWE Film editor PAUL FOXALL Producer ANTHONY ISAACS
Editors MICHAEL ANDREWS , ANTHONY ISAACS