Koji Yakusho on Perfect Days and finding happiness in simplicity
The Japanese actor sits down with Q’s Tom Power to discuss his award-winning performance
Not a lot happens in Wim Wenders's latest film, Perfect Days, but that's kind of the point. Set in Tokyo, the story follows a toilet cleaner named Hirayama as he shows up to the same job, cleans the same public washrooms, eats the same meal at the same restaurant and listens to the same American music every day.
With very little dialogue, the film's star, Koji Yakusho, gives a masterful performance as a quiet man who spends his time calmly and carefully observing the world around him. Yakusho won best actor at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival for the role, and he's one of the most acclaimed stars in Japanese cinema history.
"I don't really like films with a lot of dialogue," he tells Q's Tom Power with a laugh, seated beside his translator, David Neptune. "Words are important, of course, but I think films are expressed most powerfully in those moments that don't have the words. It's the sort of emotions that well up from within, I think, that are the most important."
Over the course of his career, some of the characters Yakusho has taken on include detectives, gangsters, samurais and murderers. Internationally, he's probably best known for his roles in Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel.
"Overall, in a film, whether there's incredible violence that happens or if there's a strained family dynamic … there's always something beautiful to be found," he says about his past work.
"When I sense that in a story, in a film, that's when I feel like I can jump on board, and even if I'm not a beautiful character, for instance, if the story is beautiful or overall the film is beautiful, then there's a role there for me."
WATCH | Official trailer for Perfect Days:
Perfect Days is a reminder of the beauty and happiness that can be found in simplicity.
Though Hirayama rarely speaks, Yakusho says his character sees things that others normally don't notice or perhaps pretend not to see.
"For example, the homeless man in the film," the actor says, "they don't interact or talk to each other, but he really sees him, while others sort of just walk by."
Perfect Days is Japan's official submission for best international feature film at this year's Oscars on March 10. Watch Yakusho's full interview with Power or listen to it on our podcast for more of what he had to say about the project.
WATCH | Koji Yakusho's interview with Tom Power:
The full interview with Koji Yakusho is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Koji Yakusho produced by Lise Hosein.
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