Komorebi
"Perfect Days" started out as a movie about the Tokyo Toilet Project, but it contains multitudes.
It was written and directed by Wim Wenders with central roles being shared between the ToTo's and popular Japanese actor Koji Yakusho.
The idea originated when Wenders was invited to see the Tokyo Toilet Project by Koji Yanai, the GM of Fast Retailing Group - owner of Uniqlo, Theory, GU.
The project involved redesigning something like 20 public toilets around Shibuya ward, each one by a different architect or designer. Kengo Kuma did one. Fuhimiko Maki did one. Tadao Ando. Toyo Ito. Sou Fujimoto. Shigeru Ban. You get the idea.
These are NICE public spaces, perhaps intended to spark the type of response observed when the Guggenheim landed in Bilbao, or the High Line in New York City - each one at a smaller scale but collectively just as powerful.
The project purpose was to create convenience and cleanliness for visitors as the host city of the Olympic Summer 2020 games.
In the film, the protagonist Hirayama (pictured above) leads a simple life as a cleaner of said toilets.
He is content with a simple, structured daily routine of work plus a love of music (which he listens to by cassette tape in his van between toilet jobs) and books (which he reads every night before bed).
Hirayama's uncomplicated happiness seems to come from seeking excellence in his work, despite its low status. Many scenes show him on the ground, hands in toilets, scrubbing them to shining perfection. And also holding his head high as he leaves his home each morning.
I won't say much more, because my goal here is to get you to watch the film.
I will say the inclusion and call-out of the Japanese idea of "komorebi" is a nice touch by Wenders. Hirayama the toilet cleaner takes his lunch regularly in a park in which he photographs light coming through the leaves of trees. The Japanese expression for this layering effect is komorebi. The kanji characters for komorebi include tree, filtering, and sunlight.
The film is in Japanese, and Wenders shares a co-writing credit with Takuma Takasaki.
The title comes from Lou Reed's song "Perfect Day" which the audience hears among the many American pop hits from the 1960's and 1970's on the film's soundtrack.
“Perfect Days” was nominated and has won numerous awards, including at the Cannes Film Festival.
If you are interested in Japan, architecture, design, Wim Wenders, the impact of quality public space on urban experience, Tokyo, komorebi, previous generations of American pop music, Toto toilets, cassette tapes, Suntory highballs in a can, living a preinternet lifestyle, and/or Kengo Kuma - this film is for you.
More here ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Days
