Dean Fujioka stars in the TV drama "Taigan no Kaji ~Kore ga, Watashi no Ikiru Michi~" (TBS, Tuesdays at 10pm). He plays Tatsuya Nakatani, an elite bureaucrat at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare who takes two years of parental leave. We spoke to Dean Fujioka about his role and what the show is about.
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The story is based on the novel "Taigan no Kaji" (Housework on the Other Side) by Akeno Kiko (Kodansha Bunko). It depicts the never-ending task of "housework" through Shiho (Tabe)'s interactions with "people on the other side" who have different positions and ways of thinking than her.
--I heard that you read the original novel when you received the offer to appear in this film.
After I finished reading it, I really felt that "it's really hard to live," or rather, I was hit by it. I felt the weight of giving birth to a child and passing on life, the weight of the baton that is passed on again and again. I was born that way, and I thought that this work deals with themes that should be conveyed to the world, including gratitude to mothers and fathers, and the fact that I am a father. I may have taken it too seriously, but I am wondering how I can convey it as a drama.
-What kind of character is Nakatani?
Nakatani is the "Sandbox Emperor" (laughs). There is a scene where he plays with kids in the sandbox at the park, and he creates his own kingdom and destroys it with his own hands... That would be cool, but he's not that kind of character (laughs).
Nakatani is an elite bureaucrat who has taken childcare leave, but I got the impression that he likes to start with the formality. He is very attached to things like "it should be like this" and "this is the rule". I think that this was useful in many aspects of his career, but with childcare, things don't always go as planned. I think the gap between his inability to control things and his struggles when things don't go well is the most "moe point" of the Nakatani character.
-Is there anything you keep in mind when acting?
Maybe it's the way I hold up my glasses. I tried on a lot of glasses from the fitting onwards, but the ones I wear in the play are ones I've never worn before. There were quite a few unexpected directions from the director, like how to push the glasses with your fingers and pull them up quickly, "You touched the glasses too early that time" (laughs).
--How did it feel to actually shoot the footage?
I've played roles in father-son relationships before, but this was the first time I'd played a role that focused so much on housework. I think housework and child-rearing are difficult themes to create drama and delicate nuances around.
There are no flashy battle scenes, nor is it a fantastical, romantic love story. Of course, I think that any story has emotional ups and downs because there is life, but the realistic part of "connecting lives" and the mundane manual labor that can seem like boring days with no change are the best. But there are definitely changes happening there, and it was my first experience to act with such high resolution the gradual conflicts, suffering, joy and sense of accomplishment. The director gave me detailed guidance, which made me stop and brought out sides of myself that I hadn't noticed before.
-How was it filming with Igarashi Mio, who plays Nakatani's daughter, Karen?
First of all, as a professional, I don't go easy on him. I start by speaking to him in polite language, but since he doesn't reply back (laughs), in order to become closer to me, I often ask him to press the buttons on my clothes from the bottom up, and when he presses all the buttons up to the top, I give him a hug.
Also, while I was changing, he would run out into the hallway. He's only two years old, so it's natural, but he would run at such a high speed that I thought he might fall and get hurt (laughs). It was the best scene to see the staff chasing him. I think it must be hard for the staff, but it's so cute.
There are many scenes in the park, but it was a discovery for me to see how the park can be used to its full potential. I rode on a panda vehicle that doesn't look like a panda, and we had serious discussions about whether it would be cuter to sit on a rabbit (laughs). It's a great location.
--This is your first time acting with Tabe-san.
We started talking about nicknames with Tabe-san, and I asked, "What do you call me on the set? Is it Fujioka-san?" and "Why is your name Dean?" Tabe-san said that she didn't have a nickname, so I thought "Tabi" would be fine, and from then on I started calling her "Tabi" (laughs).
Her acting is already very stable. I thought she was a wonderful actress. When the children she plays get sleepy or in a bad mood, they start crying and act like wild animals, but Tabe-san is always stable. That's why she's called "Tabi the Beast Tamer."
-How was it actually acting with Tabe-san?
Shiho and Nakatani, played by Tabe-san, basically miss each other. It's like they're in the same space but never seem to mesh. I think they're acting while sensing a subtle mismatch between them. In each situation, they pause like they're having a conversation, and even when they're walking and talking together, their eyes don't meet, and their thoughts don't cross.
The acting in this work is similar to working under a microscope. It is a bit unique in that we face the trauma of our upbringing in our daily lives. Both Nakatani and Shiho have such burdens inside of them, and they live their lives pulling and accumulating them. They don't show it openly, but they do the work of showing the parts that need to be shown on the surface. In between filming, we talk about our favorite cars (laughs).
--What do you think of Noriko Eguchi, who plays the working mother Nagano Reiko?
I'm looking forward to filming our scenes together. I think Eguchi-san and I are the same age, so I'd like to become closer friends.
--Please tell us what the highlights of episode 2 are and your message to the viewers.
The highlight of episode 2 is Nakatani's "foreignness". There are many characters in this story, each with their own unique personality, but I personally hope that Nakatani's "sense of not being able to read the mood" or "sense of being out of place" in episode 2 will remain a comical presence.
I hope that viewers will experience that there is another way to enjoy the story of the original novel by making it into a drama. This work can be enjoyed as entertainment, and there are also learnings and realizations to be made. There are as many choices as there are families, and sometimes these can save people, but sometimes they can also cause suffering. I think this drama can be enjoyed as something that concerns people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds, who live their lives searching for answers every day without clear answers.
