A view of Tokyo from a speeding Uber Eats delivery bike: A reflection on gig labor, the search for meaning, and a city on the brink of burnout

Synopsis

When the pandemic leaves 26-year-old filmmaker Taku jobless, he moves to Tokyo and joins the fleet of Uber Eats delivery bikers who cater to a big city in pseudo-lockdown. With just a bicycle and a smartphone, Taku embraces the freedom of setting his own hours and choosing which orders to accept. He is pleased he can be of service to people in a time of high anxiety. At first, it’s fun— like a game! But as he pedals through deserted streets, delivering tapioca to closed doors in high-rise condos, he begins to question the deeper implications of this new gig economy and what Ken Loach once said about the "Uberization" of society. Why is Taku, despite working hard, finding himself sleeping on the streets with only a few coins in his pocket? Filming his journey on smartphones and GoPros, Taku invites the audience to experience his daily life on two wheels  speeding through the empty streets of Tokyo as he talks to himself and with others of his generation. From the perspective of a young, unemployed Japanese millennial burdened with $40,000 in student debt, the film asks: Does the Uber work model offer a sustainable future?

Taku Aoyagi Bio 
Born in 1993 in Yamanashi Prefecture, Taku Aoyagi made his mark with the documentary The Road He Walks: A Story of He-Kun (40 min), which served as his graduation film at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image and was released in cinemas nationwide in 2017. He went on to document the contemporary artist group Hyslom’s exhibition in Poland and directed the short film Digging a Well (2020). In 2021, he was recognized as one of the Top 100 Newcomer Artists by the prestigious art magazine Bijutsu Techo. Tokyo Uber Blues marks his debut as a feature filmmaker.

Trailer