Masayume

Japan | 2025 | Hibrid-documentary | 110 min |(o.v.) Japanese

Director: Nao Yoshigai

Screenwriter: Nao Yoshigai

Producer：Nao Yoshigai, Eijun Sugihara

Cinematographer：Kaori Oda, Nao Yoshigai

Editor：Nao Yoshigai

Art Director ：Koyuki Kato（TASKO Inc.）

Sound：Masaya Kitada

Music：Tomohito Wakui（Kakuya Ohashi and Dancers「END THE WORLD」）

Cast：Nao Yoshigai, The people I met at "Housenji Zen Center", Kokugon Yoshino (Rinzai School, Abbot of Housenji Temple), Shiki Kitamura, Kozue Takamiya, Haruka Makabe, Masataka Uchiumi, Kenji Osako, Momoko Sato, Haruka Koike

Synopsis

Nao YOSHIGAI, who lost her mental and physical balance at 34, starts training at a Zen temple. Through Zen, she reexamines “eating,” “sleeping” and “breathing,” viewing her body and mind as a “bag of flesh.” Inspired by Michizo Noguchi’s words, she sees the body as a skin bag of fluid—free to expand and contract—where bones, organs and the brain float.

Director’s Note

The title "Masayume" is a Japanese word meaning what we see in a dream happens in real life. In Zen, there is no narrative promising salvation through belief; instead, true power arises from the tangible reality felt by the mind and body through practical training. One vital lesson I learned was to value direct practice rather than depending on stories. Yet in filmmaking—even documentaries—we cannot fully avoid shaping a narrative from the creator’s perspective. By editing and reconstructing past footage as a story, I clearly realized that film is a kind of dream. At the same time, within that dream, I was able to observe what had happened to me exactly as it was, free from judgment. Living and making this film, together with that year’s weather, converged in an unexpected way—like “masayume.” I hope this film is a form of healing for someone beyond myself, and that in the end it will heal the earth even just a little.

Nao YOSHIGAI

Nao YOSHIGAI was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan in 1987. She graduated from the Department of Dance at Japan Women's College of Physical Education and earned her Master’s at the Graduate School of Film and New Media at Tokyo University of the Arts. YOSHIGAI considers the changes that occur in the mind and body when one tries to understand the world through the five senses through activities such as “dance.” She makes films based on these sensations. She also appears in movies as a performer, directs stage productions and designs sets of stage productions.

YOSHIGAI’s notable films include Shari (Official Selection, Rotterdam International Film Festival 2022), Grand Bouquet (invited to the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival 2019), and Hottamaru Days (Winner of the New Face Award, Entertainment Division, Japan Media Arts Festival). Following her role in Kaori Oda’s film GAMA (2023), YOSHIGAI appeared in Underground, playing the role of “Shadow,” exploring the memories and traces of the underground.