Engaged on film or television shoots, as for this series with many "intimate" scenes filmed near Tokyo, she ensures the well-being of the actors by serving as an interface with the director, whom she helps to put in pictures his vision.

This profession, more and more common on Hollywood sets since the #MeToo movement born of the Harvey Weinstein affair in 2017, is still in its infancy in the Japanese archipelago.

"In the United States, everyone knows what an intimacy coordinator is, but in Japan I have to explain what I'm doing, that I'm not the enemy of the director," Momoko Nishiyama told AFP. , 43 years.

Intimacy coordinator Momoko Nishiyama (l), gives advice to actors during the filming of a TV series, February 14, 2023 in Kawasaki, Japan © Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP

His work begins before filming with a careful reading of the script: "I tell the director +it is written that A hugs B, does it go further? How far do they undress?+"

She then speaks with each actor and actress to ask their limits: "It's a scene without a bra. If we don't see your chest are you okay?"

"Thanks to his presence, the exchanges were easier," says Asuka Kawazu, 23, one of the actresses in the series.

Without an intimacy coordinator, "it happens that we realize on the day of filming that we are going further than what was planned".

The presence of Momoko Nishiyama "makes us feel that we are taken care of", adds the actress.

Adapt the job, but not too much

The director, Kenji Kuwashima, appreciates that the coordinator "defends both parties. In the end everyone wants the same thing: to make the best production possible".

"Until now there was a fairly vertical relationship where the director said: + do this +, but it becomes more egalitarian and both sides grow out of it," he says.

To shoot realistic scenes while protecting the actors, Momoko Nishiyama never moves without a panoply of silicone pads to avoid contact between private parts and "maebari", custom-made panties.

Intimacy coordinator Momoko Nishiyama and director Kenji Kuwashima, on the set of a TV series, February 14, 2023 in Kawasaki, Japan © Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP

She pulls out of a bag panties and thongs of all shapes in several shades of beige, to best adapt to each situation.

"I always have about thirty with me," she laughs.

Momoko Nishiyama took online courses in the United States in 2020 to train in her new profession, which she adapts to Japanese filming.

"I'm also careful not to adapt it too much because that would prevent the necessary changes to the Japanese way of doing things," she says.

In recent months, the Japanese media have relayed the accusations of sexual assault by several actresses, provoking an indignant reaction from a collective of filmmakers including Hirokazu Kore-eda, winner of the 2018 Palme d'Or at Cannes for "Une affair of family".

"We were shocked" by the facts reported and the industry's lack of reaction, director Miwa Nishikawa, a member of this group, told AFP, denouncing the "unforgivable acts" of filmmakers abusing their status to commit violence.

"Not able to evolve"

“We thought it would make it easier to speak up,” adds Ms. Nishikawa, believing that the harassment “has always been there, under the surface”.

"Unfortunately, unlike the West or South Korea where the #MeToo movement took hold, Japanese industry has not been able to evolve", a sign according to the director "of a lack of solidarity between the workers of the industry and a structure that would unite and protect them".

Intimacy coordinator Momoko Nishiyama shows off underwear used on the set of a TV series, February 14, 2023 in Kawasaki, Japan © Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP

The collective calls for the establishment of industry-wide training and rules to regulate castings and filming, and for the generalization of intimacy coordinators.

According to Miwa Nishikawa, however, it would be naïve to believe that the mere presence of these coordinators will put an end to sexual harassment.

But their presence shows everyone "that they are looking after the safety and dignity of the actors and the crew", which can create "an atmosphere deterring harassment", thinks the filmmaker.

Japanese director Miwa Nishikawa during an interview with AFP on November 17, 2022 in Tokyo © Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP/Archives

Momoko Nishiyama admits to sometimes feeling "a little helpless" in the face of the industry's inertia to combat harassment.

"There are people who want to change things, and more and more film sets with a healthy atmosphere," she admits.

"But I think that needs to change more."

© 2023 AFP