Meg Igarashi Explores Cultural Differences of Love in Tamagoyaki

Mixed Asian Media - July 02, 2024

By Jalen Jones

With roots in the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom, writer-director Meg Igarashi has lived a life that’s allowed her to pull inspiration from a variety of cultures. With pride, her works often showcase her unique perspective — and her latest short film, Tamagoyaki, is no exception. 

The film follows 6-year-old Aya, who, after a life-changing move from the U.K. to Japan, struggles to reckon with cultural differences, particularly when it comes to love and affection. She learns to do so with her mother over food (hence the film’s title!). Our own Jalen Jones sat down with Igarashi to discuss her creative process, her passion for collaboration, and how she amalgamates her nation-spanning experiences into her storytelling. 

*This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Where did the idea for Tamagoyaki come from?

It’s based on my own experience growing up in the U.S. with a Japanese mother, and the feelings I would have seeing my friends, who would always receive things like hugs and kisses and being told “I love you.” Coming from a Japanese background, I didn’t get that as much. Japanese love is shown way more through actions, like [giving] food — more subtle ways of showing love. It’s harder to appreciate those when you’re younger, because you want to see everything visually. Now, as an adult, I can appreciate all the Japanese subtleties, and the ways you show love that I had a harder time receiving when I was younger. 

In the original script, there was actually an older version of the central character, and she’s in a serious relationship but she couldn’t say “I love you” to him, because she didn’t grow up being told those words. The film changed a little bit from the original concept, but the title came from that idea. 

You’re a Japanese American filmmaker, but now you’re based in London, and you’re making this film about a British Japanese woman’s experiences. What brought you to London both personally and narratively for this story?

What first brought me to London was I wanted to do a working holiday visa in another country that I’ve never lived in before, but I wanted to pick a country that would allow me to grow as a filmmaker. I thought London was one of the best countries for filmmaking, other than the U.S., which I already have lived in. 

From a narrative point, it’s not too deep, but I just thought London would be good because that’s where I am right now. And I think this film is kind of like a tribute to my time here. In the stories that I make for film, the location is such a big character of the film. I like to pay tribute to where I live, and my home and my neighborhood. So the film itself is based in a lot of places that I am familiar with. I tend to do that for most of my work. 

What would you say it is specifically about London that makes it such a rich place for filmmaking?

One of the things that makes London so unique is it’s such a multicultural city. There’s a story behind every area. On top of that, London and the U.K. in general are very supportive of the arts. There are lots of opportunities here that artists can take advantage of. I feel like in other countries, maybe they don’t do it as much, but in London, they’re always trying to give opportunities and funding — they take art quite seriously and they respect it. In London museums are free, which is very rare. I feel like in Japan or the U.S., you’d still pay to get into most museums, but in London a lot of those places are free. Even though living in London is quite expensive, when it comes to the arts, there are so many great people and opportunities, and a competitive spirit — people here that want to do it well. 

How do your environments change your filmmaking process?

I definitely like London because it is so multicultural. I’m very interested in telling multicultural stories. That doesn’t mean it just needs to be my background, but if I can really understand the stories of others from multicultural backgrounds, I would like to tell those stories more. 

I’ve been meeting so many people from around the world living in London. The people that I’ve lived with, they’re all from different countries; my flatmates right now are Slovakian and Lithuanian, and my flatmate who lived here until recently was South African. You get to meet so many different cultures, and people from different places.

I love that in London, everyone is very close to their heritage. It’s celebrated. When I was younger, I was maybe the only Asian kid in my school, and I felt that as not a thing that I was necessarily proud of. It was something I was quite shy about, or almost ashamed of, which also inspired Tamagoyaki. Seeing people here be very confident in who they are from a young age is very, very inspiring, and it shows that we’re growing in the right direction. It’s also really inspiring to see so many films with more diverse representation. 

Where do you see Tamagoyaki and your filmmaking career going next?

I definitely want to make it a feature film in the future, if I can hopefully get the funding. I would love to make it a very intimate film about love and affection, and how it’s shown differently in Japan and the U.S., or maybe Japan and the U.K., depending on where I am at the time. 

Career-wise, I would love to live off of making films, making music videos, collaborating. I love collaborating. I think that’s why I like making films, because it’s so collaborative, and you get to work with so many different people. That’s the best thing about it: creating with others and learning about different art forms, and the craft that goes into it.

Tamagoyaki is starting its first screenings in film festivals now! Keep up with the film on Instagram @tamagoyakifilm, and with Meg Igarashi @megigarashi.