Perfect Days

Release date (UK): 2023
| Country: Japan, Germany |
Running time: 124 min
| Genres: Drama |
Director: Wim Wenders |
Starring: Koji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano. |
BBFC PG

By Jack Weir

Perfect Days is the latest film from German director Wim Wenders of Paris, Texas fame. The film follows Hirayama, a man in his sixties who is perfectly contented with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo, Japan, taking photographs, reading books, and listening to cassette tapes in his spare time.

Hirayama’s cassette tape collection provides insight into his personality, the music he listens to on his daily drive to work becomes the soundtrack to his life, amplifying his character beyond what first appears to be a man of simple happiness. The lyrics of Hirayama’s favourite tunes alludes to a life full of love, loss, and regret. Although content in his limited means and routines, the crooning of Lou Reed’s Perfect Day and similarly bittersweet ballads reflect Hirayama’s inner conflicts, making him endlessly fascinating to watch as we learn of his history.


Hirayama grows trees in his home, evoking the Greek proverb: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.” Although his life seems small, his legacy is great, not just in the trees he plants but in the joy he spreads at work on the streets of Tokyo through chance encounters with strangers. Hirayama’s selfless dedication to his work also expresses his zen outlook, finding beauty in life’s smaller moments and encouraging a receptive audience to follow his example by living more mindfully.


Perfect Days is my favourite film of last year, and its compelling, contemplative vibe is elevated by a phenomenal central performance from Kōji Yakusho as Hirayama.

Jack Weir studies Film at Edinburgh Napier University.