The Eagle reviews Fugetsu-Do

American University’s “The Eagle” published a lovely review of Fugetsu-Do after it screened in the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival last week. Olivia Kozlevcar wrote:

Filmmaker Kaia Rose’s “Fugetsu-Do” is a poignant documentary about one of Little Tokyo’s long-standing Japanese confectioneries, Fugetsu-Do, and the store’s heart, the Kito family. 

Brian Kito, the third-generation store owner who functions as a narrator, is a thought-provoking storyteller. In Kito’s retelling of his family’s history, including his grandfather’s creation of the fortune cookie and his parents’ time in Japanese Internment Camps, he builds a complex, complete bridge between his lineage and their relationship with the crafting of sweets. 

Rose’s vision relies on a pastel color palette and soft pink aesthetic, a decision that compliments Kito's soft-spoken, passionate narration nicely. In a departure from the anticipated mouth-watering shots of mochi-gashi, Rose also intersperses clips of historical footage that often better suit Kito’s narration about more serious topics. These clips are overlain on shots of present-day America, reminding the viewer to consider the suffering that the Internment Camps caused — and how it’s notoriety continues to alter the way many view the country.

The short film is sweet, but not saccharine. It doesn’t sugarcoat the struggles of the Kito family, but rather accentuates the way in which they each contributed to the multi-dimensional, heartfelt history of Fugetsu-Do.