Girls Title card in Japanese.
Japan is the third episode of Season 5. It was directed by Jesse Perez, and written by Jenni Konner. The episode premiered on March 6th, 2016.
Summary
Shoshanna wakes up, showers in her brightly colored apartment, and takes the train to work. She talks to
Shoshanna in her Tokyo apartment.
her Japanese co-worker Yoshi, and they appear to be flirting, despite the fact that Shoshanna is still with her boyfriend Scott.
She then talks about Yoshi with her new Japanese gal pals while they sit naked in a hot pool during what seems to be their lunch hour. Shoshanna admits that she really likes Yoshi even though she's got a boyfriend back home. Meanwhile, sitting in his own hot pool with his friends, Yoshi confesses his feelings for Shoshanna. But his friends tell him that something would have happened between them already if Shoshanna liked him back since American girls are easy.
Yoshi: Shoshanna's co-worker/ crush
Later while talking to her boss Abigail via Skype, Shoshanna is fired or being "managed out" as Abigail put's it since the Japanese office is losing money. Shoshanna has a meltdown because she doesn't want to go back home. She heads to a bar with her girlfriends, who try to make her feel better by reminding her that she's going back to her boyfriend, which does not seem to help the situation. She explains to them that she can't afford to stay in Japan, either, and they are surprised to learn that her financial situation wouldn't allow for that.
Shoshanna calls Scott back in the States, and tells him about her job. He appears to be very happy about the news, and tells her to just hop on a plane immediately, to get it over with. But even though she agrees that's the right move, she texts Yoshi to see what he's up to Instead of going to her apartment to pack.
Back in New York, Hannah becomes upset when she finds pictures of naked women on Fran's phone. He admits that they are from old girlfriends that he masturbates to since he finds pornography gross. Fran also says that he doesn't use the pictures Hannah's sent him because he thinks she's acting too funny in them.
Ultimately, she takes the problem to Marnie, who is in Ecuador on her honeymoon. She tells Hannah to calm down about it. Hannah talks about Fran's phone pics to Elijah and Ray, who agree to help take naked photos of her that she can text to Fran.
Adam and Jessa are later camped out on the couch with Ray, watching Adam's latest acting job playing a homeless man in a crime show starring Lucy Liu. Jessa is super impressed by Adam's performance. Eventually, Ray goes to bed, leaving Jessa and Adam alone together. Adam kisses Jessa, but she is still insisting that they are just friends before bailing.
Shoshanna dancing with her friends.
Back in Japan, Shoshanna is at a club, rocking out with her girlfriends. Yoshi is there, too, and they eventually leave together, along with a few other people, and head to a BDSM salon. Yoshi is clearly dissatisfied with the impropriety of the whole situation, but Shoshanna is cool with it and ends up slipping into a sexy nurse costume and whipping one of the guys. He gets the wrong idea and comes on to her a little, at which point Yoshi interrupts them and whisks Shoshanna away, nurse costume and all. He escorts her outside and they kiss.
The next day, while Shoshanna is packing to leave for New York, she listens to a voicemail message from Scott. Scott is shown waiting at the airport with flowers and a handmade sign. Shoshanna isn't there; he dumps the bouquet and leaves.
Hannah gets into Fran's phone while he's sleeping and deletes all the photos of his exes — leaving only her own, which she also sets as his screen saver.
Trivia
- Shoshanna's apartment complex is a real place in Tokyo, and it was decorated to evoke a whimsical/ childlike quality to it to resemble Shoshanna's personality.
- Hiro Mizushima, the actor who played Yoshi, is actually a somewhat famous actor whom Lena Dunham described as "The Robert Pattinson of Japan." Though this was not known when Mizushima was first cast.
- The Japan storyline came about when executive producer Jenni Konner went on a trip to Tokyo, and felt like everyone there was like Shoshanna.
- The BDSM scene was loosely based on Dunham's own experience at a Japanese fetish bar where she ended up in a nurse's costume.
- The part of the BDSM scene were a woman pours red wax onto one of Yoshi friend's butt's was done with real wax, and the woman was a professional dominatrix named Alice.
- The naked photo that Hannah put's as Fran's screensaver was actually taken by Alex Karpovsky during their scene.