He continued, “Before  “John Wick” was created and at the end of “47 Ronin” [in which Reeves and Sanada co-starred] Keanu told me that his next project was a big action movie with Chad [Stahelski]. I said “good luck” and watched the whole series in the movie theater. Finally, Chad called me and said he’d created a role for me, as an old friend of John Wick. I was so excited, this time I said, “I’ll see you on set.” It was a quick decision. I’d been following all of Keanu’s jobs. And I was really happy to be reunited with Keanu and Chad, the stunt guys and the choreographer. It was like a dream come true.”

On his expereince as a Japanese actor he said,”I mostly get offered roles these days, luckily. But, of course, for many years before that I had to audition. Lately, I read the script, talk with the director and if we see that we have the same goals, I’ll jump in.
I think I used to be a workaholic, especially when I was living in Japan. No official holidays in the year, working almost every day. I loved it. But when I moved to L.A. in 2005, it was harder for me to get roles. And I had more free time. It had never happened before. But I also realized that I needed that time, because working in the U.S. was much harder than working in Japanese in Japan. I started taking English lessons, then doing auditions and lots of meetings. I had to concentrate. I was tense. So, I needed the relaxing time in between and have now found a good work-life balance. I have an exciting job and a peaceful life. California is perfect for me. It has cities, great restaurants, the ocean and mountains. Plus, there is a big entertainment industry here.”

“Some themes are considered too sensitive or delicate that Japanese filmmakers will not touch them. In that case, if it is an important theme, having a Western filmmaker do it is welcome. I say, “Thank you for making this movie and bringing the story to the world.” I always take this stance. But if they are getting things culturally incorrect, then I have to say something. I have to fix it. I’ve found directors and producers have always listened respectfully to my suggestions and that has never been awkward on set. In “Minamata” [where the subject is an industrial-scale poisoning] the director [Andrew Levitas] asked me to consult on the set design and the costumes of the extras. I was on set every day, often before the director, checking things. I didn’t have any official title, but they listened to me. Since then, I’ve been doing that for every movie. And, last year, finally, I got the title of the producer of a show.” he said when asked about the worry that movies show Western-skewed interpretations of Japanese society.