At first, the documentary briefly describes Japan as present in the collective imagination of Westerners, supported by images shot in Tokyo and Osaka. Then, the clichéd images slowly diminish to make way – in an ideal and physical trip to the prefecture of Nagasaki – for other less obvious ones such as the Catholic cathedral of Oura. Indeed, if an Italian were to "teleport" here, they would believe they were anywhere in Italy or Europe; certainly, they would never imagine being in Japan.
These images, however little taken for granted, are a prelude to the real surprise for the viewer: in the port of Minami-Shimabara, a bust of Alessandro Valignano stands out – the same identical statue found in Chieti, in Abruzzo, the city where the Jesuit was born. This is just the first of several connections that link Japan to Italy and Abruzzo in particular, a region that the Japanese consider "Gateway to Europe" thanks to the action of Valignano.
Many other characters – Abruzzo by birth – have contributed to creating a bridge between the two territories: Raffaele Ulisse Barbolani, Gabriele d 'Annunzio (the most widely read Italian author in the land of the Rising Sun after Dante), Francesco Paolo Tosti (whose repertoire is the subject of a Japanese opera singing competition even with a Pan-Asian dimension) and, in more recent years, the former Formula 1 driver Jarno Trulli.
But there are also traditions that unite Abruzzo and Japan. An extremely spectacular case is that of fire festivals. The one that takes place in the city of Sukagawa is so similar to the Farchie festival that takes place in Fara Filiorum Petri, in Abruzzo, that the inhabitants of the two towns would not be able to distinguish which is the Abruzzese festival and which is the Japanese matsuri if they looked at photos without particular attention.
The documentary is dedicated to the memory of the Abruzzo japanologist Marisa Di Russo, who has been a bridge between Italy and Japan throughout her life.