Acting has been learned on a field-by-field basis.
I know this is a long time ago, but you were scouted by Nan Goldin on the street and became a model, which is how you got your start in this field. Did you always want to be an actor?
Shibukawa: No, I originally came to Tokyo to play in a band. Anyway, I didn't care what the means were. I had always played the drums, so I went to a technical school. At the time, Nan Goldin and Araki (Nobuyoshi Araki) were working together on a project called "photographing young Tokyo kids," and they were looking for models. I was on my way to a part-time job when I happened to be approached there.
How did you make the transition to acting?
Shibukawa: That was also a result, or more like a flow. A friend of mine who used to work as a receptionist at a live music club in Koenji happened to join a major office. He asked me, "Why don't you come work for us? He asked me if I wanted to come and work for him. So I joined the agency and started going to auditions for actors while working as a model.
I guess it was in the same vein that you met director Toshiaki Toyoda, who inspired you to become an actor.
Shibukawa: That was an audition for "Porn Star" directed by Mr. Toyoda. At that time, Mr. Toyoda had a postcard of Nan Goldin in his house. I guess I was the subject of that postcard. I thought, "Oh, I've seen this guy before. From that point on, he started using me, and I have been using him ever since.
I got the impression that you became an actor by going with the flow, rather than actively doing it yourself.
Shibukawa: I had always wanted to be in the public eye. Whether it was in a band or as an actor. I also liked movies. I was in a rockabilly band, so all I watched were movies set in the 50s and 60s in the U.S. I liked James Dean and Matt Dillon, and I was attracted to that kind of worldview. I never studied acting.
I was wondering if you dare not study acting.
Shibukawa: It's not a dare. I feel like I've been in the field, in the field, all my life. But I definitely think you should study. It makes all the difference in how good you are at it. To put it simply, it's like theater. You practice every day and go on stage. That is "acting," and I think theater is a "skill. I have never practiced that skill. I didn't try to break into a theater company on my own, and I learned little by little on the job.
Why do you continue to be attracted to the film scene rather than the theater?
Shibukawa: I like the work site, and I think that filmmakers are interesting. They have the most individuality. Also, movies are simply cool. I was also influenced by fashion and imitated it.
