Tokyo Uber Blues

Tokyo jitensha bushi

Director Taku Aoyagi underwent a career change during the pandemic, becoming an Uber Eats rider. Will he survive?

As the pandemic hit in 2020, many saw their employment opportunities dramatically diminished. Filmmaker Taku Aoyagi found himself out of work and so, to earn a living, he moved to Tokyo to become an Uber Eats rider – one of the few booming businesses as society closed its doors. Shot mostly on mobile phones and GoPros, Tokyo Uber Blues journeys through a 21st century megalopolis, with Aoyagi guiding us as he goes about his work. At the same time, his film grapples with what it is to be a twentysomething in present-day Japan, issues around the gig economy and the way a city was transformed by a world-changing event. By turns high-spirited, comical and despairing, Tokyo Uber Blues is an essential, intimate portrait of recent times.