![]() It does have a different connotation in Japan. But slowly, you realize the richness of his life, and you realize that cleaning a toilet is a strangely metaphoric job. You see him work cleaning toilets, and so you easily reduce his job to being a toilet cleaner. And I think that's the little miracle of Hirayama and the contagiousness of his work and of his attitude. What we understand with Hirayama is he's a hundred different things and a toilet cleaner. In America, you are - you know, you're a toilet cleaner. SIMON: I'm going to sound like a real American now. And he's amazingly content with everything he does and with everything he has. He goes to the public bath because his modest apartment doesn't have a bathroom. And he takes pictures of trees and the light flowing through them and casting shadows on the floor. His great passion in life are trees, and he loves the light. And he loves the surrounding because these toilets are all in parks, and there's trees, and there's light. WENDERS: Well, he likes to be of service. And even if he's doing the same part, every part is unique and has to be the best. ![]() And every Japanese craftsman - his ambition is to do it each day, whatever it is. He doesn't even have an answer for him because, of course, his whole ethos is to do it as good as he can. But Hirayama - I mean, he just looks at him. WENDERS: Isn't he right? That's what everybody would say. SIMON: Hirayama has a young colleague who tells him at one point, don't clean so hard. And that became the beginning of "Perfect Days." All we need is a good script and a great actor. And everything that I like about Japan could sort of come into this movie. And I could imagine a story about a caretaker of these toilets that speaks about the love for little things. I love these toilets, but I would rather tell a story. I said, the whole situation here does inspire me. So as it was an open invitation, I was supposed to be inspired. I love the way they took possession of their city in such a civilized, friendly, careful way. On the other hand, it was worth looking at Tokyo at that particular time in life because it was the first moment when the people of Tokyo came back from - after the longest lockdown of two years. So I followed the invitation and looked at the toilets and liked them but felt it wasn't really worth making four short documentaries on the architects and their toilets. And it just so happened that 15 great architects, who normally build museums and banks and high-rises, built the smallest possible unit for an architect, which is a public toilet. They called me because they knew I love Tokyo and architecture. SIMON: I gather the film began in your mind when you were invited to observe the Tokyo Toilet Project? Wenders, thanks so much for being with us. Wim Wenders, the acclaimed international filmmaker, joins us now from Los Angeles. ![]() It stars Koji Yakusho and is nominated for best international feature film at this year's Academy Awards. "Perfect Days" is the latest film from Wim Wenders. Is he happy? Is he lonely? What keeps him going? Life is in the details. SIMON: Hirayama's work - he cleans toilets in Tokyo and with skill and attention to detail, which we see, too. THE ANIMALS: (Singing) There is a house in New Orleans. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN") We see his futon, his books and the cassettes of classic rock that he turns up driving to work in an orange Tokyo Dome. He's brushing his teeth, clipping his mustache, spraying his houseplants. We see a lot in the life of a man named Hirayama.
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