About
I, too, was a small life
that someone refused to give up on.
From a boy without a family register to the day he first held a camera — and why he now stands on the frontlines with an international NGO, recording so that no life, however small, is given up on.
Narita JunNarita Jhonerick Manalo
Filmmaker / Journalist ｜ Staff, Peace Winds Japan ｜ CEO, WAVE CREATIVE Inc.
Born in 1993 with roots in both Japan and the Philippines. His father disappeared right after his birth, and he spent his early childhood without a family register — legally, a life that did not exist.
Through loneliness and discrimination, one thing brought light into his life: the filmmaking he encountered at church. Ever since, under the theme of "delivering unheard voices through film," he has stood beside the overlooked — people, communities and living things — quietly pointing his camera at "life" and "hope."
In 2018 he moved to Tokyo, working on advertising films for national clients and public figures, learning marketing and the craft of making a message truly reach people. He then began traveling to the frontlines of social and environmental issues, weaving what he found into documentaries.
In 2021 he founded WAVE CREATIVE Inc., defining "social creative" — a practice that fuses the micro (personal stories) and the macro (social structures) into films that move people to empathy and action.
Today he serves as staff at the international NGO Peace Winds Japan, standing on the frontlines of humanitarian aid and disaster response, while continuing his work as a professional partner of Patagonia and collaborator with NGOs and mission organizations.
His hope is simple: that a film would not merely be consumed, but become, for someone, a reason to live another day.
Partnership / Affiliation
- PatagoniaProfessional partner (environmental conservation)
- Peace Winds JapanStaff (humanitarian aid & disaster response)
- WELgeePro-bono filmmaker (refugee support)
- Antioch MissionMedia staff
Recognition
- Cool Japan AwardFor innovation in filmmaking and sharing Japanese culture
- Green Film Festival 2024Grand Prize
- NHK national documentaryHis life story featured in "Tada Umarete Kita Dake Nanoni"
- EXPO 2025 Osaka, KansaiFilm production for an ocean-conservation pavilion
History
The road so far
2018
First steps into film
Self-taught, balancing work and creation. One film catches the eye of industry professionals — and he confronts a hard truth: no matter the passion, a film that doesn't reach people means nothing. The resolve to "learn how to deliver" is born.
2019
To Tokyo, to learn how to reach people
Advertising film sets, marketing, corporate projects — facing the essence of how a message truly carries.
2020
The pandemic, and a turning point
As demand shifts to short-form and animation, he begins to be called on as a filmmaker. A meeting with a conservationist plants the seed of his reporting career.
2021
Into the field — and WAVE CREATIVE
Plastic pollution in the Seto Inland Sea, endangered sea lions in Hokkaido, the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. He learns the weight of unheard voices — and founds WAVE CREATIVE. The same year, NHK features his life story nationwide.
2023
Defining "social creative"
Craft, marketing and a reporter's sensitivity fuse into his own approach. In April, he becomes a professional partner of Patagonia.
2024
The first screening
His Fujimae Tidal Flat documentary — marking 20 years of its Ramsar listing — is selected for a Patagonia environmental grant. Family, mentors and friends fill the room at his first self-organized screening.
2025
To the world stage, and to the frontlines of life
Film production for an ocean-conservation pavilion at EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai. Release of the Youth Climate Case Japan short documentary. A mission film in Kalimantan, Indonesia. A TV feature on "Lifeline."
2026
To the frontlines with an international NGO
Joins Peace Winds Japan as film staff. "I want to use this gift — film, the only road I've walked since I was a teenager — for society." The work of recording from the frontlines of humanitarian aid and disaster response has begun: Manila, Ōita, Noto, Aceh, Ōtsuchi.
Let's tell your story, together.
Film production, interviews, screenings, talks — in Japanese or English. Every inquiry is welcome, at any stage.