Goodbye CP

Hiroshi Yokota, a man with cerebral palsy, gets out of his wheelchair, leaves his apartment, and begins shuffling along the outer corridor of his complex. As he ventures outside, dragging himself forward close to the ground, blinding shafts of sunlight strike his eyes.

On all fours, Yokota crawls across the pedestrian crossing of a main street. With his head and limbs moving involuntarily, he seems to be struggling. The crossing light turns red, and several vehicles rush by behind him. “That was scary,” he confesses. Close by, fellow CP sufferer Koichi Yokozuka takes photos of the beginning of Yokota’s adventure. His hands that hold the camera are twisted into an unnatural, crooked shape.

The two men venture out from places where no one can see them, and into the streets.

Members of the Aoi Shiba no Kai Kanagawa Joint Association, to which Yokota and Yokozuka are also affiliated, stand in front of a train station and assert the rights of people with cerebral palsy. They receive donations from housewives, office workers, and young children... “Why did you make a donation?”, asks Hara. “Because we’re healthy and normal, so I feel sorry for them.” “Because I’m on my way home from visiting my ancestors’ grave.”

Association members drink at Yokota’s apartment, talking frankly about their sexual experiences. “My first time didn’t go well.” “I went to (red light district) Yoshiwara.” “In a sense, it was rape.”

A train carrying Yokota arrives at a station. He crawls determinedly toward the door to get off, and falls onto the platform.

Back at Yokota’s apartment, association members are locked in heated debate. Yokota wants the filming to stop, but others attack him. Eventually, Yokota’s wife, who was against the film from the beginning, explodes in anger. She hurls abuse at Hara as he wields his camera.

In an underground passage near the west exit of Shinjuku station, Yokota carries himself on his haunches, his limbs and head swaying uncontrollably, as if dancing. His glasses fall, he picks them up, then continues crawling. His glasses fall, he picks them up...　

On a street closed to traffic on weekends in Shinjuku, Yokota writes in chalk on the asphalt with an unsteady hand. It is an act of physical expression by this CP sufferer, who is surrounded by a wall of able-bodied pedestrians.

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