Dean Fujioka is the kind of artist who needs to keep his hands busy. Between shooting movies and creating music, he's planning tours and staying healthy. Finally, people all over the globe will finally get to see another side of him in his action film Pure Japanese.

Last month, Pure Japanese began streaming on Amazon Prime Video globally. The movie is intense, packed with ninja action and drama involving the yakuza that would keep your hearts racing. With Fujioka at the forefront, the Daishi Matsunaga-directed film is definitely a must-see for all movie buffs and those curious about Japanese culture.

Bandwagon caught up with Dean Fujioka to talk about his work on Pure Japanese, the kind of music his character would've listened to, his own music recommendations, and more.

Hi, Dean! We're so excited that Pure Japanese is now available to stream globally on Amazon Prime Video! It's so intriguing and it kept me on the edge of my seat! How does it feel to finally have it out in the world for everyone to see?

I'm actually quite surprised it went global despite how domestic and niche the movie title might sound like.

It took me three and a half years to bring this project to the movie’s theatrical opening in January. Since then, we received so many varieties of thoughts and opinions toward this experimental device called “Pure Japanese.”

Thanks to all the support, I was very pleased to see the movie resulting in a long-run showing until this past June and I was very excited to hear the news of Amazon Prime Video global release as well.

What do you hope viewers will take away from watchingPure Japanese?

“What does it mean to be a Japanese in the society today?”

Pure Japanese is one of the answers to this question as well as being an experimental device like the mirror in the shrine and/or “PJ Kit” that appears in the movie.

We usually use words like “audience” and/or “viewer” to describe those who watch the movie, but for Pure Japanese, after the theatrical release, I felt strongly that it makes sense to call you a “user,” which is a term we often use to call people who play games and use apps. So is using drugs. That said, I hope you, PJ users, will experience this experimental device and experience how your soul resonates with it.

Daisuke Tateishi is a very mysterious character. How did you train for the role?

I slowly started to prepare for the role probably about 3 months before the shoot. At that time, I was filming Full Metal Alchemist 2 & 3 and The Dangerous Venus simultaneously. Now that I think back it was pretty intense that I had to keep up with the training routine while juggling other projects.

Actual action and the Ninja shows are very different. Ninja shows are more like dance but action can be more violent or impulsive so I needed to train for it. I learned the Ninja moves in Nikko. I practiced with the actual Ninja players at Nikko Edo Wonderland a few times but prior to that, I spent more time in the studio with the action team to get the basic movements down.

As we approached the production stage, I simply tried to bring my everyday life as close as it can get to the life of the character. I just kept working out between the shoots.

What kind of music did you listen to while preparing for your role? Would you say that it's the kind of music Tateishi would listen to?

This music definitely helped not only Tateishi's character development but honing the idea and sharpening the vision of where this project should be taken to.

Igor Stravinsky such as 'Firebird' and 'The Rite of Spring', the type of music played in Noh Theaters Gagaku (Japanese ancient court music), Himekami, and Geinoh Yamashirogumi.

Did your experience working on Pure Japanese inspire you to write new music?

I wrote the song 'Spin The Planet' during the shoot of Pure Japanese because I had a deadline to meet. The title has a double-meaning about the relationship between species. Earth itself is a form of life. Earth and humans get hurt but we all continue on living. It’s all about how to deal with those wounds and move forward.

I was secluded in the mountains during the Nikko shoot and I wrote this song on the tatami mat of the hotel looking out to the mountains and forest covered by the fog, which is a signature view of Nikko.

Do you have any Japanese bands and music artists you'd recommend our readers to listen to?

Haru Nemuri

Daichi Yamamoto

Tatsuro Yamashita (not available on streaming)

What are your plans for the rest of 2022?

I have a live tour in September and then some film projects to shoot. Besides work—stay healthy and gluten-free.

Do you have a message for your fans from Southeast Asia?

This movie is a case-study of Japanese language users, so I’m very interested to see how this movie will be received by the users of other languages. It would be amazing if you could comment about the movie online or on social media. That’s the whole point of quoting Ludwig Wittgenstein as the epigraph of this movie—"If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world."

Pure Japanese is available for streaming globally on Amazon Prime Video. Watch the trailer below.