sw-japanese-screenwriting

Japanese Screenwriting Methods

Output language = question language; all terms are anchored back to the original wording, see sw-workflow/terms.md, do not invent translations.

The practical path of original Japanese screenplays, sources: ゼロからの脚本術：10 位日本金牌导演、编剧谈剧本 (edited by Tomari Takahiro), 故事创作大师班·国际卷 (Arai Haruhiko). For the Korean (Oh Seung-wook, Choi Seok-hwan) and French (Aubitan) screenwriters in the same master class, see sw-korean-french-screenwriting. Relationship with the Hollywood system:Kosawa Ryota, Uchida Kenji, and Kakehi Masaya acknowledge that three acts/kishōtenketsu is the most effective structure but "investigate why good works are three acts"; Miki Satoshi, Sono Sion, Yokohama Satoko, Takahashi Izumi, and Fukuda Yūichi take another path—theme comes later, no plot outline is written, fragments are connected, characters precede events; Yukisada Isao treats the screenplay as a "coordinate axis" and "material for discussion." For Ozu Yasujirō's screenplay examples, see ozu-screenplay-style; editor's concluding note: "Do not rely on adapted screenplays, win with originals." For worksheets and plot outline examples, see reference.md。

I. Two schools of method: structure-first vs. character/fragment-first

	Structure-first school	Character/fragment-first school
Representatives	Kosawa Ryota, Uchida Kenji, Kakehi Masaya	Miki Satoshi, Sono Sion, Yokohama Satoko, Takahashi Izumi, Fukuda Yūichi, Ōmiya Eri
Starting point	Subject pointer, setting, "if + and," ending	Small material notes, actors, character résumé/diary, personal experience
Theme	Determined before writing or brought out by the subject	When written to seventy or eighty percent, it "emerges unintentionally" (Rumo waiting for herring)
Plot outline	Must be written; first draw a framework/table/A4 full-series structure	Not written or extremely minimal ("once you write a plot outline, the screenplay loses its explosive power")
Cost	Writing according to structure is not necessarily interesting	Being unable to think of connections between plot points is "simply hell"

Editor: "The humanities have the humanities' way, the sciences have the sciences' way; the right-brain school relies on the right brain, the left-brain school relies on the left brain." Choose a path that suits you, but both schools agree:Write one first and then talk(Miki: "Turn the toy box over, write one first!");show it to others, and it is meaningful only if they say it is "boring"(Sono/Fukuda).

II. Structure and rhythm

Three acts = kishōtenketsu(Kosawa): ki clarifies character relationships, shō presents contradictions and conflicts ("if shō is excellent, a good screenplay can be written; if shō is abundant, there are more variations"), ten and ketsu merge into the climax. Copying the screenplay of Seven Samurai and writing a screenplay by reversing a recorded TV drama are his study methods.
The moment the protagonist determines a goal = plot point(Uchida): In E.T., E.T. is hidden at home; in Die Hard, the machine gun is picked up. Think in four segments of 30 minutes each. University teacher: "Everyone must not mistakenly think that writing according to three-act structure will produce a good work; what we must investigate is why good works have a three-act structure."
Decide the ending first(Uchida): "Coming to the airport without thinking about the destination in advance"; Sion Sono's Love Exposure also began with two scenes in mind (persuading the sister at the seaside, the sister coming to rescue at the psychiatric hospital) and then worked backward to the first half.
Sense of speed and leaps(Furusawa): Several stories develop in interwoven fashion, with shots constantly switching, producing a sense of speed;A boring scene = a scene without a sense of leaps, delete it or add a new idea to make it important; "leap over two or three levels at once," the content of the previous scene and the next scene are opposites; the line after a line of dialogue negates the previous line; the plot swings left and right (influenced by Lost and Evangelion).
End the exposition as early as possible(Miki): "In my works, the exposition part goes very quickly"; using Milo chocolate milk to set up Instant Numa, a 2.5-minute opening with 108 shots of monologue.
Idling and fanning(Miki): Gilliam/Twin Peaks-style "idling while fanning," "a film is more interesting with more seemingly useless idling."
The 10-minute rule(Fukuda/Hazumi): In a film, within 20 minutes; in a TV drama, within 10 minutes, an event must occur, letting the viewer foresee what will happen in this episode.
TV drama practice(Miki/Furusawa): One act (up to the commercial) is about 10 minutes; if there are 7 things in 10 minutes, list 7 outline points and mark the commercial breaks; write after laying out the structure of all episodes on one sheet of A4 paper (a setup in episode 2 pays off in episode 5); an ensemble drama with one case running through the whole series (Hentai Kamen); first draw the framework of "the order that must be presented in advance"; fixed routines make it easy to watch (Section Chief Kinoshita's ramen hospitality in every episode).
No need to give the protagonist a goal / no need for growth(Miki): "Do people have to improve? A fool is a fool from beginning to end and doesn't grow at all, yet that's what makes it interesting"; The Three Losers, "spending their whole lives on summer vacation"; The Amazing Speed of the Turtle is based on Shane (the departure of the spy friend), "a story where nothing happens."
Anti-theory(Yokohama): "A sense of imbalance should be more interesting" "if you write according to theory, you can't produce content that exceeds other people's imagination"; the price is that continuity is extremely difficult, so first show the concept to the producer.
Deviation within repeated daily life(Yukisada): Ozu-style "since we've come here, start shooting from here and then repeat it," the cherry blossom fork in the road, changing course because of others—"the most secret flavor of a screenplay"; "first of all, what I want to depict is the richness that does not exist in repeated daily life."

III. Materials and Concepts

One note a day(Miki/Yokohama/Kakehi): Write down interesting things/things you're interested in; after half a year, looking back at 180 entries, you discover what has been attracting you; sketchbook doodles of characters plus keywords (Furusawa); outline software (Acta/Tree) to list notes and reorganize them into chapters; "turn the toy box upside down" and pour out all the material, then arrange it to find a hidden theme; Fukuda is the opposite: "rather than taking notes, it's better to engrave them in your heart," and jokes are a game of memory.
"What if" + "and"(Kakehi): A concept = the addition of two things that are far apart—"beauty" + "canned food," "soccer broadcast" + "stoppage time before death," "room swap" + "the previous resident's lover" + "professional wrestler moving crew," "men" + "synchronized swimming" (Waterboys);"And" allows coincidence to be accepted, while "furthermore" is a letdown; "If" alone is not enough—mixing in different content is the entry point. Fukuda: "There must be two pieces of material that trigger inspiration; with only one, something will feel lacking."
Start from the title(Miki/Furuzawa): The title should make people want to ask "what is this about" ("Instant Swamp", "Burst City", "Tetsuo"); "A 60-Year-Old's Love Letter" is, from the title alone, a completely new love story; familiar form + brand-new approach = "pseudo-déjà vu" (Miki); Sono Sion: first tell the synopsis to others—if there is no reaction, give up; with "Suicide Club" and "Love Exposure", everyone laughed as soon as the titles were mentioned.
Analyze "what it is mainly about"(Miki): "Shane" = "a person you meet leaves and then returns to ordinary life" → "Turtle"; "The Godfather" = a son inherits his father's business → "Shit Factory"; "People who are not good at creating stories can try using 'what it is mainly about' as a clue for conceiving ideas." Watch old movies to learn structure; watch your favorite genre all the way through (Sono Sion's horror films).
Summarize in one or two sentences(Uchida): "Rocky" = "a third-rate boxer gets a title shot and fights the champion to a draw"; "After School" = "a man helps his first love"; if you cannot do it, you must have gone off track somewhere in the middle.
Changing the timeline costs nothing(Uchida): "No matter how you change the timeline, it does not cost a single cent"—the secret weapon of low-budget films; "an ordinary vase will not sell, but if you say 'it glows when you press it,' maybe it will."
Research: Sono Sion interviews high school girls, one introducing another (hair extensions, nosebleeds); Lee Chang-dong walks around to gather material, "if you drive, you no longer seem like a writer"; Kakei interviews furniture designers and architects, "precisely because it is not fiction can you fabricate an outrageous, enormous lie"; Yokohama encounters a bear and puts it in the final shot; Yukisada's blender goldfish, "who did he go with again?"
Personal experience is an entry point, not something to copy directly(Yokohama): "Experience does not equal film; you have to consider how to apply experience to film to expand the story" (the cesspit, dodgeball, the decapitation accident, "God"); Sono Sion joining a cult and fleeing to an extremist group's stronghold, "it was all because of food"; Arai Haruhiko, "All you have to do is expose the things you are embarrassed about to others"; Miki, "the embarrassing parts have a very strong infectious power."
Theme comes later(Miki/Uchida/Sono): Only by episode seven or eight do you realize "all the characters in this drama are waiting for something" → Rumoi is a city waiting for herring; "In the Pool" "there is no need for all three people to be healed"; only after changing the names to "Sparrow" and "Peacock" did the entry point become visible (the fantasy type);once the theme emerges, delete unnecessary shots and lines accordingly, "I hate a preachy feel"; while writing, wait for the keyword "take it slowly." Omiya is the opposite: the theme can be spoken by the protagonist at the end ("a period of closure is a preparation period for opening"), admitting it is "not clever" but powerful; Takahashi: "create a guiding line or shot" as the peak rather than blurring the theme.

IV. Characters

Character résumé and diary(Uchida): Write the protagonist's résumé and a diary for the three days in the story ("running away here is too cowardly" → "trick the other person and then run" → work backward to plant foreshadowing), imagine "if they were a classmate"; "what the audience sees is only the small island protruding above the sea; beneath the surface lies a mountain-like mass of 'wasted effort.'"
Only after characters have been nurtured and matured does the "beginning" take shape(Sono Sion): A hack writer considers gorgeous prose before the characters are thought through; as long as a character is interesting, let him steal the protagonist's scenes (Picasso's background overwhelms the flower).
Setting determines character(Kakei): Work backward from the setting to the profession and personality—a beautiful woman crawling out of a can requires a theater kid who won't doubt it; a last-minute reprieve before death requires a documentary photographer who has a reason to die; "Doraemon has value because Nobita is a loser"; a fixed image plus a reversal ("seems serious but is actually the villain") is enough, and "symbolization is the entrance to the next stage."
Character = actor + flaw(Fukuda): First think about what "delicious and visible" things the actor can bring to this show;Start from the flaw(Spider-Man can't shoot webs when a woman glances at him; Batman has no flaws, so he isn't loved); eighty percent excellent, twenty percent flawed; decide whether to "show the loser side" or "hint that he's actually excellent"; desperate effort (especially desperate lying) makes one lovable; villains are both bad and stupid (the three pirates).
Don't create "characters"—write "human qualities"(Takahashi Izumi): "If it were a scholar, he'd say 'documents are placed in the room,' but what I think is 'there should be two copies of Doraemon there'"; focus on people, not events; look at the "heat" a person gives off (falsely booking 100 people to escape the company trip).
Create characters from contrasts in appearance(Miki): A punk youth sitting cross-legged on the subway gives up his seat to an old woman → "Gus";Names determine characters(Sparrow/peacock; Kinoshita "Kōnosuke"; Ōmiya: "names determine characters, so one is usually very careful").
The 3-person group(Miki): "With 1-on-1 it's hard to judge which set of values is correct, and the plot is hard to turn; once the relationships among 3 people change, the plot can change along with the values."
Add an outsider(Furusawa): In Gaiji Keisatsu, the female police officer who is selected in a daze lets the audience see how unusual the organization is; the "despicable hero."
Let characters appear while writing(Takahashi): "I was just thinking 'Teacher Kobayashi isn't showing up,' and then he appeared; since he's appeared, let him do something"; Fukuda "creates the story while changing the characters' roles," and "I very much welcome going off track."
Arrange characters like building a flower bed / preparing hot pot ingredients(Ōmiya); contrasting characters (Director Kimishima vs. Director Kinoshita).
Villains: Sono Sion, "no one is one hundred percent bad" (for how Korean screenwriters write villains, see sw-korean-french-screenwriting）。

V. Dialogue

Comes from dialogue with one's own heart(Ōmiya): "To investigate my own feelings, I used a lot of language to express them," and "words produced from an hour or a month of inner dialogue become the dialogue of the script"; don't refer to lyrics (it will turn into a karaoke video); first decide the color tone and onomatopoeia (sunset glow/bang).
Preserve ambiguity, value the resonance of sound(Yokohama): "You don't know whether it's true or false"—different people understand it differently; "more than meaning, value the resonance of the sound";Only say what happened, don't say "sad"(Remove emotion); long lines that "speak out trauma" are like poetry.
Write dialogue first, then generate the story(Fukuda): After deciding the characters, write the dialogue first and create while changing the roles; "hand the straight-man role to the audience" so the conversation doesn't stop (otherwise "joke, straight man, joke, straight man" is tiring to watch); with triple comedians, "everyone is an idiot," and the conversation can continue.
Real dialogue(Arai): "Don't hit my face, because I'm an actress" came from an ex-girlfriend; under the trend toward concise dialogue, what matters more is writing each scene well so that "I love you" moves people because of the buildup.
Adapted dialogue(Takahashi): Manga dialogue only works because it has drawings to lean on, so for live-action it must be rewritten; written-language prose in novels must be replaced with spoken language; create new dialogue without changing the meaning; turn passive protagonists active.
Pointer dialogue(Takahashi): Use one specific line of dialogue or shot as the peak and expand the field at the foot of the mountain.
Regional accents and catchphrases(Miki/Omiya): Kinoshita's "I should be getting back," "Either one's fine," "It's nothing, I won't die"; for Fargo-style onomatopoeia, see sw-american-case-studies。
Dialogue read-through: after finishing, read it aloud once or have people role-play a simulated rehearsal, with two read-through methods, Korean and French, see sw-korean-french-screenwriting）。

Six, Comedy and gags (Fukuda/Miki/Choi)

Gag system: allocation of straight man/funny man/natural funny man (in 33-Minute Detective, Inspector Odawara is the "big funny man" who firmly believes in the detective, while the assistant interjects); leave the straight man role to the audience; fixed forms (the perennial line "let me use the full 33 minutes," the moving shot in every episode) preserve an "invisible straight man."
The detective says what must never be said: "This and that is just that and this!" "Twins are accomplices!" — assert first, then proceed; use tricks from the history of detective fiction to add informativeness.
**What is a sense of reality?** Fukuda: "Where does a sense of reality come from? From everyday life? Or from TV dramas you've seen before?" — splashing water → spraying insecticide → paramedics secretly filming, expanding the range from news and other people's absurd behavior, "change your perspective and ask him with love why he did it"; "it is never something to be proud of for a writer's range of reality to be narrow."
One tearjerker moment is enough, but more than one laugh moment; if one out of 100 audience members doesn't laugh, you want to ask "what part wasn't funny?"
Miki's "drained style": gags take priority over story; a housewife becomes a spy; a staircase that only goes down, not up; "black T-shirt changed for white T-shirt" losing something important —big oversights begin with tiny details(the vertical parking in Bonnie and Clyde).
Arai: "If the audience feels three or four out of ten gags, that's good enough, so toss out more."

Seven, Original works and adaptations, constraints and partnerships

Original works are born from "situations"(Yukisada): a clothing manufacturer wants models to wear clothes → a funeral film where everyone is in mourning; a band's lyrics → burning textbooks; a shampoo commercial → three films of Shibasaki Kou playing a bad woman; a mobile phone commercial → end-of-life footage; "Once you've determined the constraints that suit you, then go do it. Content that restricts freedom instead produces innovation; 'please create freely' is the trickiest." Uchida: "It's easier when you're only allowed to cook with cabbage and eggs"; Furusawa: "The stronger the restrictions and lack of freedom, the more interesting the content that can take shape."
A moderately bad script is a good script(Yukisada quoting Kamishita Shinichi): leaving room for imagination can excite the staff, "I want to do this"; write in even what might be cut and ask "is it necessary?", "a script exists for discussion";"Earn time" with a co-writer(self-written → he writes → revise the differences → incorporate the good parts); "a script becomes more precise when many people write it."
A script is a coordinate axis(Yukisada): The film "Three Returns, Two Deaths" (script → shoot → edit); if the central axis isn't solid, you don't know what to aim for; original = a method of depiction (Kitano's omission) rather than a story; don't fear "being somewhat similar," don't fear superficiality.
Adaptation Insights(Arai/Yukisada/Takahashi/Richards): Examine the source material from a critic's standpoint; "a source material you really like is hard to adapt because love numbs you"; keeping only the title is fine too ("The Tragedy of W" — a play-within-a-play wrapped around "an extra chasing a dream"); "from what viewpoint did I discover what in the novel" (Ito Chihiro: "one step forward and it's a film"); the director first tells the screenwriter which part moved him; "when adapting, the screenwriter must not know too much." The three write by rock-paper-scissors claiming the beginning, middle, and end, each writing for a week, then linking them up (Arai).
View of the Profession(Furusawa): The script is "their own work" for everyone involved; take requests seriously; "a professional should recreate like threading a needle"; commercial success first, then freshness/social impact/self-challenge; "write scripts that can be converted into money"; being able to revise is an essential quality; create works that "you can't understand unless you watch attentively"; "the joy of making far exceeds the joy of watching."
Tenacious Will(Takahashi): Newcomers write 3–5 scripts a year, 10 hours a day; if you have a theme to pursue for a lifetime ("pain" → tenderness; the pendulum first swings toward pain), you can write anything.
Sono Sion: "If a work cannot provoke a strong sense of disgust... it isn't truly a good work"; "there is nothing that cannot be done" (too much monologue, 4 hours, the title only appearing after an hour); structure compared to a tree: branches and leaves → trunk → roots; either build the structure first and write, or push forward with "serialized"-style bluster; "devote yourself to the original" — only without a source material's guarantee is it fresh.
Korean-French ComparisonSee sw-korean-french-screenwriting(Oh Seung-wook's undercover fieldwork and "the liar who tells the truth," Choi Seok-hwan's genre promises and two reversals, Aubitan's "write the dialogue last" and Italian-style table reads).

8. Diagnostic Checklist

Am I structure-first or fragment-first? After choosing, have I at least finished one work?
Does the title make people want to ask "what happened?" How do three people react when told the synopsis? Have I found the person who says "it's boring" and asked "where?"
Is the concept the addition of two things that are far apart? Did I use "and" rather than "moreover"?
Is the ending decided (even if it's just one image first)? Is the "development" ample and exciting enough? Does each scene have a sense of leap? Does the next line of dialogue negate the previous one?
Does the exposition end as early as possible? Is there an event within 10 minutes? Have I listed 7 events per 10 minutes of a TV episode?
Characters: Have I written their résumés/diaries? Have I worked backward from the setting to their occupations? Have I thought of the actors' flaws? "Character" rather than "role" (those two copies of Doraemon in the room)? Are the names decided?
Material: Have I recorded one item a day? Am I using research/personal experience as a breakthrough rather than copying it directly? Have I exposed embarrassing things?
Theme: Do I let it emerge on its own (and after it emerges, cut the excess) or decide it first? Is there any preaching? Is there a guiding line of dialogue or shot?
Comedy: Is the funny-man/straight-man allocation done? Is the straight-man role handed to the audience? Does the "sense of reality" come only from dramas you've seen?
Constraints: What is the constraint this time (budget, location, actors' schedules, commission conditions)? Have I turned it into a weapon?
Does the script leave room for discussion and change? Will the staff be excited when they read it?
Must the protagonist have a goal/growth? Is a version without growth more real? Have you written the repetition and deviation of daily life?

9. Workflow (Original Japanese-style screenplay)

Toy box: Pour out half a year of notes; circle the "what if..." and the shots/images you most want to film; find two materials that can be added together.
Title and one sentence: Write a title that makes people want to ask "what happened?"; summarize it in one or two sentences; tell it to three people.
Decide the path: Structure first → decide the ending, draw the four-frame structure/A4 full-set table, plot conception; fragment first → write character resumes/diaries, write dialogue first, advance in "serialized work" style.
Characters: Work backward from the setting to occupation; actor + flaw; name; outsider/stranger; 3-person group; contrasting character.
Plot conception(if writing): Objective description, write the "event" that moves the protagonist (even a tiny one), do not write "he thought this"; mark introduction, development, twist, conclusion; after the reversal, go back and add foreshadowing.
Script: Jumps, negative-form dialogue, end exposition as early as possible, idle spinning and stirring; dialogue comes from inner conversation and real material; preserve ambiguity.
Read: Read it aloud to harsh people; find people who say "it's boring"; once the theme emerges, delete what is unnecessary.
Proposal document(TV drama): synopsis/characters (catchphrase, motto, viewpoint character, contrasting character)/synopsis of the first two episodes + titles of each episode/planning purpose and highlights + comparable works—"originals must be more accessible than adaptations."
Shoot: For an independent film, set the shooting date to force out the script; if short on money, do it the short-on-money way; leave room in the script for discussion; accept that "a film will change because of the actors."