Documentary Production
in Tokyo & Japan
We're a bilingual documentary production company based in Tokyo, making films across Japan — from broadcast and streaming documentaries to brand documentaries, and our own original work. We love finding real stories worth telling, and the access and trust it takes to tell them well.
Bilingual documentaries throughout Japan
Alphabet Productions is a documentary production company in Tokyo, producing films across Japan from Hokkaido to Okinawa for global networks, streaming platforms, brands and agencies — in both English and Japanese.
We were founded by filmmakers from Australia and the UK, and our fully bilingual team handles every stage ourselves: development, directing, filming and post. Companies we've worked with include the BBC, Netflix, UFC, Meta, Visa and One Championship — alongside original documentaries of our own.
Start your story with Alphabet.
OUR ORIGINAL WORK
Shugendo — Japan's mountain worship
Some films you make for clients. Others you make because the story won't let you go. Shugendo is our feature documentary on Japan's ancient mountain-worship tradition a practice of pilgrimage and ritual that has survived in the country's remote ranges for over a thousand years, and is rarely captured with this kind of access.
We're developing and shooting it ourselves, in some of the most demanding locations in Japan. It's the clearest answer to what kind of company we are: not only a production partner for other people's films, but documentary filmmakers in our own right — and we bring that same instinct for story, access and patience to every project we make for clients.
Documentary case studies
Documentary production in Japan for the UFC, KPMG, Visa, Meta, Aldar, Asana, Dormeuil and INFINITI — filmed in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Okinawa, in Japanese and English. See all projects.
UFC 328 Tatsuro Taira
Sports documentary · Okinawa. Fight-week filming in Naha for the UFC, with a Tokyo core crew and local support.
Meta Community VR Therapy
Short documentary · Tokyo & Hiroshima. A short film on VR therapist Kenta Toshima for Meta, shot in Tokyo and near Hiroshima.
Dormeuil — Brand Values Film
Brand documentary · Japan. Dominic Dormeuil, fifth-generation chairman of the French cloth house, filmed in Japan.
KPMG Documentary
Corporate documentary · Tokyo. The Japan leg: eight CEO interviews around a live Tokyo conference, plus walk-and-talks and B-roll.
Baccarat Residences Saadiyat
Brand documentary · Tokyo. An interview film with architect Sou Fujimoto at his Tokyo studio, for Aldar in Abu Dhabi.
INFINITI The Voices of QX60
Brand documentary · Yokohama. A designer interview in Yokohama that set the look for INFINITI’s global series.
Visa × Nankai — Osaka to Koyasan
Brand documentary · Osaka. Contactless travel from Kansai Airport to the temples of Koyasan, with a local fixer and crew.
Asana × Fujitsu Customer Film
Customer story · Tokyo. A bilingual customer story, managed from the first interview call in Japanese to the English dub.
Bosozoku — Where Are They Now
Original documentary · Tokyo. Former bosozoku, now driving vintage Japanese cars, filmed in Harajuku.
Yoshihiro Akiyama — ONE Championship
Sports documentary · Tokyo. A fighter profile of MMA star Yoshihiro Akiyama for ONE Championship, filmed across Tokyo.
Kiyomizu-dera Art Film
Art film · Kyoto. A short art film shot at Kyoto’s Kiyomizu-dera temple, produced and filmed by our Tokyo crew.
Yukio Akamine — Fashion Documentary
Original documentary · Tokyo. A film on Japanese menswear legend Yukio Akamine, made in-house by our team.
ACROSS JAPAN
Documentary filming in every region
We're based in Tokyo, but we have produced documentaries the length of the country. We have great networks, local contacts and cultural knowledge from the far north to the southern islands — so wherever your story lives, we can access it.
Tokyo · Kyoto · Osaka · Hokkaido · Niseko · Nagano
Okinawa · Tohoku · Kyushu
ACCESS & TRUST
A fully bilingual documentary team
A documentary lives or dies on access. You can't film a real story in Japan if people don't trust you — and you can't build trust through a translator standing between you and your subject. That's the gap we close. We were founded by filmmakers from the UK and Australia, and our fully bilingual English and Japanese team works natively in both languages at every step.
We don't just translate interviews. We understand the cultural subtleties it takes to gain access, conduct sensitive interviews, and capture how life in Japan actually feels. For international directors, that means you can follow and shape every interview in real time, in English, while we hold the trust in the room in Japanese.
Bringing your own director and just need a local crew? See our film fixer and production services in Japan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you produce documentaries outside of Tokyo?
Yes — across all of Japan. Whether the story is in Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Okinawa, Nagano, Niseko, Kyushu or a remote rural prefecture, we have the local knowledge, crew networks and cultural understanding to film documentaries nationwide.
Do you produce documentaries, or just provide film-fixing services?
Both — but they're separate services. As a documentary production company we develop, direct and produce films ourselves, for broadcasters, streaming platforms, brands and as original work. Separately, we also act as a local film fixer for international crews bringing their own director to Japan. This page is about the documentaries we produce.
Can you turn our concept into a documentary-style brand film?
Absolutely. We often work from a brand or agency's core message and develop it into a full documentary production — handling creative development, casting, location scouting, filming and post to deliver a cinematic, authentic brand film.
How does pricing work? Can you give us a rate card?
We're happy to share indicative costs — usually through an example estimate based on your project type. We produce everything from small documentary crews to large-scale TV commercials, so there's a wide range. Every production has many line items, and a simple rate card rarely reflects reality. Tell us what you have in mind and we'll give you a clear, honest picture.
What makes Alphabet Productions different from other production companies in Japan?
Alphabet is led by filmmakers who have built careers across the UK, United States, and Australia before coming to Japan — and that experience shapes how we work. We approach production in Japan with a can-do mindset, finding solutions where other Productions find obstacles and pushing through to deliver for our clients. We understand Japanese culture, protocol, and nuance deeply but we always try to find a way to make things happen.
Do you make brand documentaries as well as broadcast films?
Yes — it's a large part of what we do. We produce docu-style brand films that tell a real, human story with the craft of a broadcast documentary, for global brands and agencies. We've made branded documentaries with companies like Meta and Visa.
Do you handle interviews in both English and Japanese?
Yes. Our bilingual directors and producers conduct in-depth, sensitive interviews in Japanese, with real-time English translation or live feeds for international stakeholders. We handle post-production too — fully subtitled and versioned films in English, Japanese, or both.
Can we direct remotely if we can't travel to Japan?
Yes. We regularly run documentary shoots with international directors following remotely via live feed, with real-time English translation during Japanese interviews, so you can give notes and shape the film from anywhere in the world.
Do you handle post-production in both English and Japanese?
Yes. The language-specific elements — interview editing, subtitling, on-screen graphics, titles, and final versioning — we handle in both English and Japanese. We produce and deliver bilingual versions of any project, formatted for broadcast, digital, and social platforms, for both international and Japanese domestic audiences. All review, approvals, and communication throughout post-production can take place in English or Japanese.
Do you produce content for Japanese domestic clients as well as international ones?
Yes. While many of our clients are international brands and agencies producing content in Japan, we also work regularly with Japanese companies seeking international production standards and English-language content capability. We're equally comfortable in both directions, and communicate fluently in English and Japanese throughout every stage of production — from initial brief through to final delivery.