Jo-An works in a sex bar in Manila, but the Filipino government is cracking down on its infamous sex industry and Jo-An has a family of 18 to support. With the strength of the yen an irresistible force, the transvestite prostitutes of Manila have been lured overseas to work the streets and specialist clubs of Japan.
Nick Deocampo, the Philippines’ leading film director, travels with Jo-An on his annual pilgrimage to Japan. Touching and traumatic, The Sex Warriors And The Samurai witnesses the physical and emotional trials Jo-An encounters as he tries to earn enough for the year ahead. In doing so, the film examines the complicated relationship between the two countries following Japan’s emergence as the dominant economic power of the Far East.