Black Box

A book review by Johana

Black Box by Shiori Ito

The best nonfictional book I’ve ever read in my life. 

Powerful, inspiring, infuriating, heartbreaking, compelling, and full of information are the words that will describe this book. 

#Powerful because Shiori Ito, the author of this book, is the first woman in Japan to talk about her sexual assault to the press. Despite the struggles and opposition while she was fighting against her assailant (Btw, her assailant was the infamous journalist from TBS, Washington), Shiori didn’t give up on exposing what had happened to her while encouraging the other victims of sexual assault to come forward and speak out.

#Inspiring because the book tells the young life of Shiori at the beginning, which is very fearless and adventurous for a girl born in the Asian culture. Shiori pursued her dream of studying journalism in the U.S., then she took any opportunities on her way so that she could work as a journalist. Unexpectedly, the mental and physical breakdown due to the sexual assault caused twists, and she had to dedicate herself to making the assailant admit his crime. All these moments are described in detail and the story is told in a marvelous way, which gives a sense of inspiration.

#Infuriating because Shiori believed Japan was the most unprejudiced country in the world, given that there have been fewer rape crimes in Japan. Later, she found out that it was actually because the victims don’t report such crimes to the police, resulting in fewer rape crimes. In the book, Shiori mentioned a series of her emotions when she realized that the hospitals, the police, and the organizations, which are supposed to help the victims, were not helping the victims in reality.

#Heartbreaking because Shiori didn’t want to let her family know about her experience. She was mentally broken down. Besides the physical pain, she was constantly haunted by the scene of the assault. It was harder for her to tell her sister and parents than to endure the pain. When she exposed the assault to the press, she was attacked by emails.

“Rape isn’t only committed by strangers. Most victims are assaulted by their acquaintances.”

I think this book is the book everyone should read.

I feel like Shiori is trying to tell the readers about the institutions, which are meant to stand with the victims, are avoiding helping the victims in reality. She described the laws of Japan and how it was very difficult for the victims of sexual assault to go through the process of Japan’s judicial system in the most brilliant ways possible.

I want to conclude with my favorite line of all the best lines from the book.

“Never in my life did I think I’d be chasing after the police.” This line describes the whole book.