{"id":105668,"date":"2025-10-30T08:44:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T08:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/105668\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T08:44:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T08:44:08","slug":"5-questions-with-japanese-actress-kumi-takiuchi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/105668\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Questions With Japanese Actress Kumi Takiuchi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWith two acclaimed indie features screening back-to-back at last year\u2019s Tokyo International<\/a> Film Festival \u2014 Keiko Tsuruoka\u2019s Ravens and Kiyoshi Sugiyama\u2019s award winner Teki Cometh<\/a> \u2014 actress Kumi Takiuchi cemented her standing as one of the most versatile and fearless young performers of contemporary Japanese cinema. A onetime newcomer discovered through a national talent contest, Takiuchi has built a singular career outside Japan\u2019s idol system, moving fluidly between daring arthouse films and mainstream television dramas. Her range runs from the raw sensuality of Haruhiko Arai\u2019s It Feels So Good (2020), which won her best actress honors from Japan\u2019s Kinema Junpoto awards, to the moral intensity of A Balance (2021) and the early breakthrough of Side Job (2017), with recent TV work \u2014 including a starring role on NHK\u2019s flagship morning drama \u2014 expanding her audience.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis fall, Takiuchi returns to TIFF in a different capacity: as the festival\u2019s \u201cNavigator,\u201d an ongoing ambassadorship of sorts that the event bestows on a prominent screen figure each year.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Hollywood Reporter recently sat down with Takiuchi for a brief conversation about her unconventional path into acting, the evolution of female representation in Japanese film and television, and what she hopes to bring to this year\u2019s Tokyo festival as an ambassador for the art form she loves.<\/p>\n

\n\tI understand that you came to acting somewhat by chance, when you were discovered in a talent contest. What do you see as the key creative breakthroughs in your journey as an actress?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, there are many types of actors and actresses. Some train formally in school, and some are simply scouted. I happened to come up during an era of talent contests in Japan \u2014 competitions that agencies staged around the country to find the \u201cdiamonds in the rough.\u201d My start came through one of those contests, so I didn\u2019t go through any formal training before my debut. I just leaped into the profession and learned on set, gaining experience from one project to the next.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was during the shooting of my 2017 film Side Job that I really began to think seriously about the essence of acting. I began working with an acting coach, and that experience marked a huge turning point for me. I later joined a new, more acting-focused agency and began training under a senpai \u2014 an older actress who also taught acting at a school. Under her guidance, I continued to build my craft, performing both on screen and in independent theater productions. I really came to understand what it means to be on stage and what acting as a skill truly involves.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother big turning point came last year with Ravens and Teki Cometh. After those films, I decided to leave my agency and become an independent actress. So I would say that was another chapter closing, and a new one beginning.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat seems to unite many of the characters you play is their inner strength \u2014 from the bold, sexually liberated but quite lost young woman of It Feels So Good, to powerful, independent figures like Yoko in Ravens, or the stern teacher in NHK\u2019s morning drama Anpan. Were you always offered the kinds of roles you wanted, or have you had to fight for them?<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, when you play characters who are sexually liberated, like I did in It Feels So Good, lots of similar roles tend to come your way afterward. That\u2019s partly why I took on A Balance (2020), which was the complete opposite \u2014 to keep my range as an actress and the diversity of roles I would be considered for. I do agree that many of my characters have been strong, determined women, but I think that mostly reflects the era we live in. You rarely see depictions anymore of women who are reserved and \u201cwalking three steps behind men.\u201d There are more stories today about strong women simply because this is the reality of Japanese women in our times.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow are you approaching your role as \u201cfestival navigator\u201d for the Tokyo International Film Festival<\/a>? What does that actually entail?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m a passionate film lover, and I\u2019ve attended the Tokyo International Film Festival many times as an audience member. So when I was asked to serve as festival navigator, I was surprised, but I was very happy to say yes. Honestly, I wasn\u2019t sure what exactly the job would involve. Navigator? When I asked what I would be \u201cnavigating,\u201d they said they weren\u2019t entirely sure either! (Laughs)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut I take it to mean that I\u2019ll serve as a face for the festival \u2014 someone to introduce audiences to the films being screened and encourage them to come. I hope to talk about works I personally love and to share recommendations. I\u2019d also like to help facilitate meaningful exchanges between Japanese and international guests, and to highlight emerging talent. I really love cinema, so I hope to just do whatever I can to help people have meaningful experiences at the festival. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tTadanobu Asano (L) and Kumi Takiuchi (R) attend the opening night red carpet in support of \u2018Ravens\u2019 for the 2024 Tokyo International Film Festival. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty<\/p>\n

\n\tThere has been a lot of campaigning in Japan in recent years \u2014 some spearheaded by leading figures like Hirokazu Kore-eda and others \u2014 to improve the industry\u2019s notoriously bad working conditions. You\u2019ve worked on a lot of indie films, so you must have encountered some of this. Have you seen any positive changes? What\u2019s your current assessment of the state of things?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt would be wonderful if working conditions could become more welcoming and stable \u2014 it would benefit the whole industry, because more talented young people would get involved if they had more assurance that they could make a decent living.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut at the same time, when it comes to creating art, there\u2019s a certain level of stoicism and dedication required. So it\u2019s a delicate balance \u2014 between what you demand from your working environment and what is demanded of you as an actor. Once you\u2019re immersed in a production, as an actor, you don\u2019t always know the politics behind the scenes, so from my position, I try to contribute to a positive environment, but I mostly focus all of my energy on giving my best performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tI think there has been progress, too \u2014 especially because female voices are finally being heard. The growing discussion around harassment on set has broken one of the Japanese industry\u2019s last glass ceilings. Now we need even more women in leadership positions \u2014 for example, as producers \u2014 so there\u2019s more advocacy for telling stories that depict women as they really are.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne thing I would really like to see improve, though, is the lack of opportunities for older actors. It\u2019s unfortunate that after people have spent decades mastering their craft, there are fewer roles for them. It would be wonderful if there were more space for seasoned performers to continue finding meaningful work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat always comes across in your performances is a strong, authentic point of view. This has been a year of many relatively young actors \u2014 Kristen Stewart, Scarlett Johansson, Harris Dickinson \u2014\u00a0making their debuts as writer\/directors. Many actors also insist on producing their own work these days. Do these things interest you at all? \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tNo, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll move into those areas. I have enormous respect for people who\u2019ve trained and built professional careers as writers, directors or producers. I haven\u2019t earned my living in those ways, so I don\u2019t feel qualified. My calling is to continue growing as an actress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With two acclaimed indie features screening back-to-back at last year\u2019s Tokyo International Film Festival \u2014 Keiko Tsuruoka\u2019s Ravens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[337,146,85,399,46,68023,1776],"class_list":["post-105668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-asia","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-international","tag-israel","tag-tokyo-film-festival-2025","tag-tokyo-international-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}