Original subtitles

It was shot pragmatically, the camera became like the eyes of the main character.

It might still be the same, but certainly at that time if you walked into Shinjuku,

there were many underground worlds there.

It might be a foreigner's world or a Yakuza's world.

There were so many small worlds and dramas hidden,

and they could only be seen if you looked carefully.

Everyone knows what Shinjuku is like nowadays,

but it was a closed society at the time and it was difficult to shoot there.

It's a story of the surface and the underside of this busy quarter,

and the people who live and work there, such as the Yakuza and the police.

We shot many scenes there.

And it was my job to decide what scenes to use and how to use them.

I remember it was quite hard.

There were scenes that I wanted to be longer, but I had to think about the film's length

So I kept what was most important

and for other scenes I used some elements from them to enhance the overall image.

I wasn't sure how it would look when it was completed.

I've seen many films about the underground world of Shinjuku since then.

But I think this film was the first one to show that world.

Though I'm not going to say the titles of those other films.

Kabuki-cho is a well-known Yakuza district,

and it was very hard to shoot scenes there with a massive camera,

as there were some Yakuza who would habitually interfere.

The director had a hard time especially.

I really wanted to edit those scenes to give a sense of reality,

and not to waste any of the elements that were captured.

Every single corner of the street was a different Yakuza territory.

But despite the difficulties, we managed to make a film that showed the real Shinjuku.

I valued all the scenes we shot and tried editing it sensitively,

as they were not easy to get.

I always try to see characters from a subjective rather than objective point of view.

I think it's important to maintain a natural rhythm throughout the film.

It's not like the scenes were fixed and shot in a studio.

I try to edit to show the rhythm which came naturally when it was shot.

But it's very difficult to explain it theoretically.

I have to consider the look of the scene,

and at the same time the sensitivity and emotion of the audience.

Every scene is different, so they can't be simply combined according to rules.