──Miki Sakai, so drama is born from "hesitation," huh?

October 2023. Web Dentsu Inc. reached its 10-year milestone. We wanted to create a special "serialized feature" to mark this anniversary. We arrived at the theme of "10" people, "10" colors, wondering if we could offer wonderful content under this concept. If we were to put it grandly, perhaps we could call it diversity.

When we want to lose ourselves in thought, or when we try to squeeze out ideas, we need our own indispensable "companions" – items we simply can't do without. For the great detective Sherlock Holmes, these would be his beloved "pipe" and "violin."

This series invites various individuals to share their "personal companions for thought." We hope you'll enjoy discovering their unexpected sides while pondering "thoughts about thinking."

(Web Dentsu Inc. Editorial Department)

Guest for the 7th installment: Actress Miki Sakai

──Nice to meet you, we're the Web Dentsu Inc. Editorial Department. I never imagined we'd actually get to interview you... I'm truly delighted.

Sakai: Nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.

──Ms. Sakai, you're known for your multifaceted activities: acting, talent work, serving as a Goodwill Ambassador for the international NGO World Vision Japan, being an outside director at Fujiya, and privately, being a mother to a middle school son.

Sakai: Multifaceted? Oh, no... I suppose it's just that I have a personality where I get interested in this and that, and before I knew it, I'd been doing all sorts of things. Fundamentally, I do intend for "acting" to be at the center of it all.

──But usually, "actress" and "NGO" don't really connect, do they?

Sakai: For me, they're incredibly close. I was in the Girl Scouts as a child and even thought, "If I weren't an actress, I'd want to do volunteer work." In that sense, NGO activities feel like "part of my life."

Miki Sakai (Actress/Talent): Born 1978, from Shizuoka Prefecture. Debuted as a singer in 1993. Made her acting debut in 1995, working extensively in film, TV dramas, and theater. Major works include the films "Himeyuri no Tō," "Love Letter," and "Abduction"; TV dramas "Shiro Sen Nagashi," "The Butler: Saionji's Brilliant Reasoning," "Tomorrow, Mom Will Be Gone," and "The Vigilante: Proof of Justice." For NHK, she appeared in the Taiga drama "Aoi: Tokugawa Sandai," "Blanket Cats," "Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju," and "Babysitter Gin!" In 2023, she completed her master's degree at Toyo Eiwa University Graduate School. She continues diverse activities, serving as a Goodwill Ambassador for the international NGO World Vision Japan and as an outside director for Fujiya.

──Was there a specific trigger for becoming an NGO goodwill ambassador?

Sakai: The trigger was when I traveled to the Philippines for a TV assignment to report on "Smoky Mountain." It's a garbage dump north of Manila where about 1,000 households live amidst the "smoke from garbage" that repeatedly catches fire spontaneously due to the sun's heat. The entire area is filled with rotting food waste, so the stench is overwhelming.

──That alone sounds like an incredibly intense experience.

Sakai: Right in front of me was a girl who couldn't even go to school. But I didn't know how to interact with her. In fact, I was in such a state that I ended up making people worry about me, like "Ms. Sakai, it's dangerous over there." I felt like I was being crushed by the sight, the smell, and my own sense of helplessness.

Photo courtesy of World Vision Japan

──You can't feel any of that from the footage shown in the news, can you?

Sakai: Exactly. I knew it intellectually. But knowing and experiencing are completely different. What could I, someone living in Tokyo who knew nothing about the situation on the ground, possibly do? After thinking about that, I naturally found myself knocking on the door of an NGO.

──That's really impressive. Even after experiencing it, I don't think many people can actually take the next step to act.

Sakai: I started running on that feeling of "I have to do something," but the more I learned, the more I felt like I was hitting even bigger walls.

──A dilemma, perhaps?

Sakai: After ten years, you accumulate a fair amount of knowledge and experience, right? But the problems themselves haven't been solved at all. So, what exactly should be done?

—That's a tough challenge. You don't just stumble upon a solution easily.

Sakai: But then, I found it—that crucial "trigger." When my son was in second grade, there was a school event like a "drama festival." They asked me, "Since you're into theater," to teach the kids about acting. I agreed, but I'm a performer, not a director or producer. Feeling troubled, I went to Aoyama Book Center in Roppongi (Editor's note: now closed) and came across a book introducing "applied theater." Applied theater differs from commercial or spectator-oriented theater and art; it's theatrical activity aimed at bringing specific benefits to individuals, communities, and society. I thought, "Ah, this is what I've been searching for!"

—Not just for elementary school "drama clubs," but also for the challenges you'd been sensing up to that point?

Sakai: Exactly. It felt like all the "dots"—my 25 years of acting experience and insights into theater, plus my experiences in the Philippines and with NGOs—connected into a single "line." I thought combining "applied theater" as a communication method with "international cooperation" could lead to contributions only I could make. The very next year, I enrolled as a non-degree student at the university, taking courses specifically related to international NGOs.

──Thinking and acting immediately! That's what led to the Sakai we know today.

After completing the non-degree course, I enrolled in the Graduate School of International Cooperation at Toyo Eiwa University in 2019. I graduated in 2023.

There's no place in Japan where you can study theater "systematically" (Miki Sakai)

──To seriously study "Applied Theater." The path to the future became clear.

Sakai: But it wasn't that simple. After being a non-degree student, I knocked on the door of graduate school to seriously study the potential of "Applied Theater" × "International Cooperation." But there was no such department. There are departments that teach "Applied Theater." The same goes for "International Cooperation." But there wasn't a single place that taught the combination of the two.

──So even though you knocked on the door, there simply weren't any professors who could teach you.

Sakai: The professor I finally met specialized in "Disaster Prevention Education in International Cooperation."

──"Disaster prevention"? That doesn't connect with theater.

Sakai: Actually, there is a faint connection between disaster prevention and applied theater, like "theater activities as post-disaster support." I'd worked as an "actress," and he was a "disaster prevention" professional. So, rather than a passive lecture where I learned something, it felt more like sharing my experiences with him, taking his insights back, and reflecting on them alone. Over those four years, digging deep into each answer myself while seeking hints from global research papers, I gained truly profound learning.

──I've always been impressed by your drive, Sakai-san, but now I'm equally amazed by your capacity for learning. Perhaps it's your power of thought. Before we dive in, what does a "companion for thought" mean to you?

Sakai: It's the motivation to keep my intellectual curiosity alive. You could also call it an element for happiness. It's the catalyst that creates encounters which help me discover that part of myself that says, "I want to know," "I want to understand." I think of it as the fuel source that allows me to learn and act on various things.

──I see. I'm very curious to hear what specific "companions for thought" you have in mind.

What is Miki Sakai's "companion for thought"?

──Now, let's get to the main topic. Could you tell us about your specific "companion for thought"?

Sakai: Well, it's "Why?" The "Why?" from WHY?

──"Why?"... ? Why "Why?"?

Sakai: As an actor building a character, "Why?" is the starting point. For example, say you're a supporting actor with just one line: "Hello." For a lead role, you'd explore all sorts of background details about the person. But for a supporting role, it might just be that one line: "Hello." But that "Hello" should be packed with that person's life, right? What background led her to squeeze out that single word? Why did she choose "Hello" among all the possible greetings? That's how you start thinking about "Why?"—just letting the questions flow.

──It's truly a "companion for thought."

Sakai: I believe 90% of an actor's job is thinking. Acting is the remaining 10%. But that 10% requires a co-star, you see.

──So fundamentally, it's a solitary, endless process of agonizing over things.

Sakai: Without that, you can't be flexible during the actual performance. That's where the chemistry happens, and that's how good acting develops, I think. Ah, but this is just my personal view. Speaking of "why?", kids around age three suddenly start their "why-why barrage," right? It might be like that.

──I felt like I caught a glimpse of the essence of Sakai-san's charm. Before this interview, I tried analyzing what Sakai-san's pure charm might be. What struck me was that "learning," "play," and another element—joy—seem to overlap and form the person that is Miki Sakai. That's a childlike trait, isn't it? Playing, learning, and finding joy in it. Adults tend to focus only on learning, but with Sakai-san, play and joy always seem to be there too.

Sakai: That might be true. Fujiya's board of directors includes outside members like lawyers, accountants, and diplomatic professionals. We all go on factory tours together, and everyone offers comments from their unique perspectives. That's incredibly enjoyable, and I'm always learning, wondering, "How do they develop such perspectives?"

2021: Appointed as an outside director of Fujiya.

──It's wonderful that you all go together, not just to the conference room, but to the factory.

Sakai: Seeing is believing, after all. I think it's crucial to go out, see things, and feel them. There's nothing better than learning gained "on the ground."

──That connects beautifully with your NGO story. Oh, wow, we're out of time. I have one final question I really wanted to ask you, Sakai-san. Is that okay?

Sakai: What is it?

──It's a follow-up to what I was saying about your pure charm. But there's one more thing I've always thought about as a fan: you always embody that "charm unique to your age." In "Shiro Sen Nagashi," for example, you perfectly expressed the kind of "confusion" unique to that age – the feeling of "this is probably what it's like to be an ordinary girl attending high school in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture."

Sakai: That "confusion" was a major theme of the drama. Wanting to do something, but lacking a concrete dream. No clear vision. Yet knowing things can't stay the same. Amidst that conflict, each character finds their own path in love and life.

──It was a drama that really captured the authentic "confusion" unique to that age and season. So, my question is: What kind of grandmother would you like to become, Sakai-san?

Sakai: A grandmother... Hmm. Well, I'd like to be a grandmother who smiles a lot, with laughter lines. Someone who says "It's okay, it's okay" about the little things. As an actress, I admire performances like "just the back of a grandmother sitting on the veranda." That back tells her whole life story. To achieve that, I want to live a rich, multidimensional life myself.

──That's wonderful. By the way, speaking of "companions," is there anything indispensable in your daily life?

Sakai: Fabric, I suppose. Blankets or anything I can wrap myself in relaxes me and makes me feel secure. I take them everywhere, anytime.

──Probably even on the veranda, right? It might sound a bit corny, but I can totally picture you wrapped in a blanket. Thank you so much for sharing such wonderful stories with us today despite your busy schedule.

Sakai: Thank you very much.

The 'Web Dentsu Inc. 10th Anniversary Project' series continues to be released. Please check it out.