Moved by the story of the House of Kunio Mayekawa

After seeing the special exhibition, “Le Corbusier and Kunio Mayekawa”, I visited the House of Kunio Mayekawa at the museum and could pick up on his temperament and the influence that his master, Le Corbusier, had on him. I felt I understood what he had in mind as he was building it and that was interesting for me.

Entering Mayekawa’s house, you come into a high-ceilinged living room that feels large and luxurious. As it was wartime he couldn’t use concrete and only had 99m2 in which to build, and when I heard that his goal was to somehow create a Corbusier-style house using wood, I was almost moved to tears. I’m interested in interior design and furniture, and looking at Le Corbusier’s chair designs, while I knew they are based on his theory of the human body, the fact that the pursuit of simplicity and functionality was something he brought over from his architectural theory was a new discovery for me.

I think this applies to architecture, drama and painting as well, but the moment when you see what the artist is trying to express – I find that really interesting. With regards to Le Corbusier, whose artistic sense is very assured, it’s the moment you see what beauty means to him. To put it simply, it’s the artist’s individuality. That’s what I find enjoyable.

Public bathhouse “Kodakara-yu”

Hamlet: A turning point

This spring, I performed in Hamlet at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre as well as on tour, and that was a profound experience for me – one of the turning points of my career.

When I heard that John Caird, who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, was directing, I auditioned for the part of Ophelia.

While learning the dialogue is difficult with Shakespeare, when it came to the performance I had a wonderful guide in John, and I had a great time. The range of expression open to you as an actor…he really taught me a lot. I found him completely different to a Japanese director.

When I read the script, there were a lot of points where I asked, “Why is my character saying this?”, but John was able to explain the psychology behind each case. In the rehearsal space, managers weren’t allowed – only production staff, the director and the cast. As the director spoke English there was also an interpreter and despite the major language barrier, the depth of our communication was always rich.

No end to expression

“Maruni Shoten” Kitchenware Store

As we’re only human, we can’t recreate an identical performance every day, even though the play is the same. But using the energy of the day and thinking about how I want to move, new feelings come out and different approaches present themselves. It’s not a matter of failing to recreate the performance, but of accepting that today’s is not the same as yesterday’s – it’s something different and new.

I had another profound encounter this spring, with Takeo Kikuchi, director of Bokyo, which releases in autumn 2017. He doesn’t compromise at all, seeking real emotion from you, and I learned a lot from. The cast endeavoured to expose themselves emotionally for the film.

Now that I’ve turned thirty, I want to always be enjoying deciding what to do next without worrying about what I think I can’t do. Instead of avoiding making decisions, I want to live focused on each moment as it comes.