Takako Matsu on ‘Nagi Notes’ and the Strange Power of Cinema

Takako Matsu’s new film Nagi Notes is already attracting attention. Set in a peaceful town modelled on Nagi, Okayama Prefecture, it tells a story of people slowly finding their way back to emotional renewal.

In her first collaboration with director Kōji Fukada, Matsu speaks about the appeal of filmmaking, and about her striking view of cinema as something that is ‘preserved, yet not preserved’. Her words resonate all the more strongly now.

A story created through a long stay in the town that inspired it

Inspired by playwright Oriza Hirata’s representative work Tokyo Notes, Nagi Notes was written by director Kōji Fukada. While inheriting the spirit of the play, Fukada created a new story set in the fictional town of Nagi, modelled on Nagi in Okayama Prefecture.

‘Director Koji Fukada actually spent extended periods in Nagi, deepening his exchanges with the local people as he wrote the story. I was very drawn to a work that depicts life in the place where the story is set, together with the cast.’

Matsu plays Yoriko, a woman living deep in the mountains while devoting herself to sculpture. When she reunites with Yuri, the former wife of her younger brother, with whom she has maintained a relationship almost like friendship, Yoriko gradually helps the lives of those around her move forward. Like the town of Nagi itself, where rich nature and human life exist seamlessly together, the character’s generous, open quality, which in some sense feels unlike a conventional protagonist, gently envelops the entire film.

‘I had the impression that this was Yuri’s story, the character played by Shizuka Ishibashi. Through the time she spends in Nagi and the people she meets there, something in her heart changes a little. I wondered whether it would be enough for me to play Yoriko as one part of the landscape. In Nagi, Shizuka and I lived in cottages next to each other. Talking about things like, ‘How do you sleep on cold nights?’, and sharing daily life with her, helped bring something natural to the conversational scenes.’

Bringing in international staff and multiple perspectives

Director Fukada is known for his delicate portrayals of people struggling at the margins of society, and for the way he captures their inner gaze. Working with him for the first time, Matsu experienced part of what makes his films so compelling.

‘As we prepared carefully in Tokyo and Nagi, I felt Director Fukada’s unwavering commitment to the work. At the same time, he never rejected an actor’s performance. This film was completed by incorporating many different perspectives, including bringing in French staff for the editing. I felt that this generosity on his part is one reason his films reach so many people, both in Japan and abroad.’

Having created memorable works with many directors and left lasting impressions on audiences, what does cinema mean to Matsu? Her answer includes an intriguing phrase: ‘There is a sadness to the fact that it is preserved, yet not preserved.’

‘Film is a medium in which a performance can remain for decades. I also perform on stage, where the performance disappears the moment it is acted. But for me, film is the same. I have the sense that I am acting within things that do not remain, such as the exchanges and atmosphere that exist before arriving at the final approved take. When I then watch the scene that was captured, I feel a strange sensation. At the same time, I feel joy that I fulfilled the role. I am moved by the strong feelings of everyone involved in sending a work out into the world, trusting the director, the cast and the audience.’

Perhaps what draws viewers to cinema is that it condenses the finest fleeting moments that came to those involved in making it.

Nagi Notes, a film by Kōji Fukada, is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States and Canada in early 2027.