At the beginning of Ryo Takebayashi’s incisive if rose-tinted documentary “A Big Home,” we are informed that half the kids in Japan’s 600 children’s homes will have trouble adjusting after entering adult society, facing issues with everything from living on their own to holding down a job.
It can be hard to square this harsh reality with the unnamed children’s home that is the film’s focus. Situated near a spacious Tokyo park and run by experienced and dedicated staff, it looks like a kind of paradise for its 99 residents, who range from young children to teenagers.
Their living environment is clean and orderly, food is abundant and healthy and staff members serve as firm but kind surrogate parents, making sure the older kids get to school on time and helping the little ones learn to care for themselves, from brushing teeth to putting on socks. (Their overarching objective, we are told, is to enable the children to live on their own after leaving the home at age 18, and teaching independence starts early.)
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