Interview with Filmmaker Yujiro Seki

As an artist, I have a passion for finding inspiring things and people. When I came across Yujiro Seki’s profile, I knew I needed to get it touch with him. I am very happy that he accepted to answer my questions. This week’s interview is a real treat!

Born and raised in Japan, Yujiro Seki discovered his passion for filmmaking in high school. While making his first feature film, Sokonashi Deka (The Enigmatic Detective), he fell in love with the imaginative possibilities of cinema and vowed to master the art through study in the United States.

After receiving a BA in Film from the University of California, Berkeley, Yujiro moved to Los Angeles to work as a director of the video department for Intermarket Design, and as a film instructor at Montecito Fine Arts College of Design. His permanent U.S. residency in hand, he became a full-time student in the Cinematography program at UCLA Extension. Upon graduating from that program, he embarked on the journey of making his feature documentary project, Carving the Divine: Buddhist Sculptors of Japan. The documentary has won many awards, including the Best Director Award of a Foreign Language Documentary (World Cinema Milan), and has premiered at the famous Raindance Film Festival in London.

Cendrine Marrouat: Hello Yujiro, thank you for answering my questions. Is there a specific event that triggered your desire to become a filmmaker?

Yujiro Seki: I encountered the world of filmmaking when I was in high school. At that time, I was heavily involved in theater as an actor. One day, I saw a movie made by high school seniors. It was about young high school kids looking for marijuana of some sort.

I was not impressed and thought that I could make something better. So I got together with my actor friends and directed my first narrative feature film, Sokonashi Deka (Enigmatic Detective). It was a very difficult journey to put a narrative movie together for the first time but I fell in love with the process of making a story through a visual medium. It was like creating out of nothing.

My vision slowly came to being and became solid and tangible. The result was very satisfying. We hosted a premiere screening at my high school. Many people came and I heard a lot of laughter while they were watching the movie. I felt empowered and decided that I would like to pursue this as a career. My dream was to make a movie that inspires people.

CM: How do you approach the films you make? What is your creative process? And has it changed since you started your career?

YS: When I started making my film in high school, my approach was a pure impulse. I just made something that I wanted to make, starting from a detective comedy to a romantic tragedy. I was still exploring my own style.

When I went to the US and interacted with people from different cultures, I made a short narrative film called Sashimi Taco, which is about a Mexican chief. Even though I had more planning and put thought into this project, it was still rather an impulsive approach.

Then, I worked in a design company in Los Angeles as the director of video production. There, I made videos for business and TV shows. It was just a job to make ends meet. At that time, my approach was to please my clients. Up to that point, basically, when I made my own films, it was just an impulse and when I made videos for my clients, it was for business. They are completely different worlds.

After a while, I became increasingly unhappy about just making videos for money. I started the path to become a filmmaker to inspire people. But, at that point, I was just in a rat race. So, I wanted to create something meaningful to me, my people, and humankind at least once in my lifetime. The subject matter, Buddhist sculptors of Japan, intrigued me and that’s how I started embarking on making Carving the Divine.

As far as Carving the Divine is concerned, I don’t really know what my approach has been. It has been a mixture of impulse with the intention to create truly meaningful work. The creation of the film took a lot of planning. Yet, there are many things that were impossible to plan. It took tremendous patience to capture authentic footage of people doing real things.

I believe my approach to this documentary has been about embracing the dichotomy between spontaneity and careful planning, which seems contradictory. But, I do believe that in the documentary world, it is how truly one can create a meaningful work of art.

CM: How would you define your style as a filmmaker?

YS: My style changes from time to time and it will continue to change. Also, it’s difficult to define my own style because I do not consciously think about it. But, what I have always tried to do is use the language of cinema effectively and efficiently to communicate with my audience. Even when I made an avant-garde film, I still had this communicability in mind.

One of the best ways to communicate is to tell a story that my audience can engage in and relate to. It’s not always an essential component but ideally, a good story has a beginning, middle, and end. We, filmmakers, can facilitate good storytelling through the language of cinema, such as cinematography, props, mise-en-scène, editing, and so on.

When I make a film or video (even a 5-minute YouTube video), I always keep this concept of good coherent storytelling through cinematic language in mind. In short, I thrive to make films that make sense to people. I would say this is my style!

As far as Carving the Divine goes, my aim was to offer a multi-layered film, so viewers at different spiritual stages of consciousness could experience something different. However, even with this ambitious plan, I also want to make a film that makes sense to my audience. If I fail to do that, I think I fail as an effective film communicator.

I hope my work makes sense to you!

CM: Carving the Divine offers a fascinating look at the 1,400-year-old practice of Buddhist woodcarving. How did you come up with the title?

YS: Coming up with the title was very challenging because we were trying to communicate with the idea of Busshi, Japanese Buddhist sculptors outside of Japan, especially non-Asian countries where this kind of tradition is hardly known.

We could have chosen titles like Busshi — Buddhist Sculptors of Japan or Busshi — The Chisel Masters of the Far East, but we wanted to use something that speaks to English-speaking people’s hearts and minds, something catchy but not cheesy.

So, I consulted my only collaborator for this film, Anthony Captian, because of his superior English background. After numerous discussions, he suggested a few titles. Carving the Divine — Buddhist Sculptors of Japan seemed the most appropriate to me. I believe that it was the best possible title for this film and we have successfully branded Carving the Divine in people’s minds ever since.

CM: What makes Buddhist woodcarving different from other types of woodcarving?

YS: In theory, Buddhist woodcarving is a religious and spiritual activity. The products of Buddhist woodcarving serve a higher purpose. So, one might have a romantic idea of a benevolent self-actualized monk, quietly chiseling a serene Buddha. However in the world of Busshi (Japanese Buddhist sculptors), first and foremost, it’s the world of craftsmen/women.

Having the skillsets to make replicas of the ancient past is more important than having spiritual intelligence or the knowledge of Buddhism. Of course, spirituality takes an important role in creating a great work of art down the line, but having skillsets to carve wood competently is the most important thing.

As time goes by, craftsmen/women could develop a deeper sense of spirituality. I would say that the statues made by busshi are truly special. When you go and see them made by ancient masters, you can “feel” that sense of awe. I believe this sense of awe is what ultimately differentiates Buddhist woodcarving from other types of woodcarving.

If you would like to actually “see” it and understand this tradition more, this is what the documentary Carving the Divine is all about! I hope you can watch it and learn about it!

CM: What are some of your favorite moments from the documentary? Any story that stands out?

YS: I don’t want to spoil things too much, but first and foremost, you can watch the whole process of a beautiful bodhisattva statue being made from scratch. You will get insights into the Japanese psyche in relation to Buddhist statues. You can observe the relationship between the masters and apprentices which has been integral to the Japanese culture.

If I were to point out one specific scene, I would say that there is a conversation between two masters, who talk about their relationship with their master. I think one of the things one master talks about there, is counterintuitive to the Western world and modern Japanese people. He mentions that in an old Japanese proverb, the bond between the Master and apprentice is stronger than the bond between husband and wife or parents and children.

Mickey La Rosa, Film Curator and Writer at Raindance Film Festival, describes this relationship very beautifully in the following statement:

In his documentary, "Carving the Divine," filmmaker Yujiro Seki beautifully explores the profoundly philosophical and religious themes behind the ancient art of Japanese Buddhist woodcarving. Once he introduced the masters at work with their disciples, I felt myself intimately involved in their quest for perfection. Seki follows the apprentices’ progress meticulously, including the harsh treatment they get from their master, which is then juxtaposed by his return to his own former master. One may doubt the grand master’s teaching that the bond between masters and apprentices is stronger and longer lasting than that between spouses and parents/children, but Seki skillfully shows us just how true that can be. Bravo! — Mickey La Rosa, Film Curator and Writer at Raindance Film Festival.

Before shooting the film, I didn’t know about this analogy and was impressed with this profound teaching. People might think that this analogy is literal, and maybe it is, but it could also be a figure of speech. In Japan people value the relationship between masters and apprentices so much that it can be seen as more valuable than the relationship between spouses and parents/children.

This emphasis is a way to remind people that someone who teaches you must be respected and revered more than anything else.

CM: Carving the Divine has received numerous awards. Why do you think this documentary appeals to people and what makes it unique?

YS: Yes, Carving the Divine has become the official selection for 29 film festivals. It has been shown in a total of 22 countries, and won awards at 12 festivals around the world. However, the documentary was not selected anywhere during the first year of the festival circuit.

Of course, I was only aiming for top-tier festivals at the time. But I believe that the reason why it wasn’t selected at first is because there was no star attached to it; or it didn’t focus on a political/trendy subject matter that festivals like.

With that said, Carving the Divine took off during the second year and was accepted by many festivals and won numerous awards. The momentum increased slowly, and by the fourth year, the documentary was screened at Raindance. Film festivals finally realized that Carving the Divine focuses on a unique subject matter that goes beyond any trends and politics, and on the possibility to connect human beings through art.

CM: What would you like audiences to learn from watching Carving the Divine?

YS: I love hearing from viewers, especially right after a screening. Unlike many documentaries that are dominated by stories that force you into a certain kind of belief, Carving the Divine tries not to tell the audience how or what to think.

I would like audiences to go through these experiences, and reflect upon what’s important for them in their lives. I want them to learn about themselves. If they can reach their own universal truths, that’s even better!

CM: Anything else people should know?

YS: Carving the Divine is in the final stage of its festival run. Afterwards, we will start implementing plans to distribute the film.

Please visit our website and sign up for our email list to be stay in the know about the project. Upon signing up, you’ll get access to exclusive sneak preview interviews with Busshi-to-be (Japanese Buddhist woodcarving apprentices). Don’t miss out — these behind the scenes interviews are only available there!

Thank you so much for your time today. I hope you will enjoy Carving the Divine — Buddhist Sculptors of Japan!

Support Yujiro Seki’s Work!

For more information on Yujiro Seki and Carving the Divine, visit the Carving the Divine website and watch a few videos on YouTube. Yujiro also invites you to stop by Butsuzotion, a blog dedicated to Japanese Buddhist sculpture appreciation.

That's it for today! Thank you for reading!

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Cendrine Marrouat is a writer, photographer, podcaster, blogger, anthology editor, and the co-founder of Auroras & Blossoms and A Warm Cup of Cozy. She has authored and co-authored more than 40 books, including The Train: A Short Story (2023), In Her Own Words: A Collection of Short Stories & Flashku (2022), After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine (2021), Rhythm Flourishing: A Collection of Kindku and Sixku (2020), Walks: A Collection of Haiku (2019-2020), and In the Silence of Words: A Three-Act Play (2018).

Cendrine's work has appeared in many publications. She is the creator of the Sixku, Flashku, Sepigram, and Reminigram; as well as the co-creator of the Kindku, Pareiku, Vardhaku, and Hemingku.