|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Gresham Outlook March 16, 2005 |
|
Television Tokyo hopes to capture the essence of Troutdale businessman Junki Yoshida
TROUTDALE - Japanese documentary director Tomoya Yamada answers questions the same way he makes films - calmly, deliberately and without any unnecessary drama.
There is one way to make him smile, though. Just ask him if it's hard to find the serious side of local entrepreneur Junki Yoshida.
Yamada breaks into laughter at this one.
"Ah, yes!" he says, nodding his head and grinning. "It's been difficult."
Most people never get to see Yoshida's serious side. They know him for his outrageous costumes and for the ear-to-ear grin that shows up in nearly every picture ever taken of the Troutdale multi-millionaire.
Many journalists have tried - and failed miserably - to penetrate the public, funnyman Yoshida, but if there's anyone who can do it, it's Yamada.
In his homeland, Yamada is known for his hard-hitting documentaries. His most recent film, an hour-long documentary with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, reached more than 10 million viewers on Television Tokyo.
Now Yamada hopes to make the same splash with a 60-minute documentary on the many faces of Junki Yoshida.
The documentary will air on Television Tokyo on Sunday, March 27.
Yamada and his Los Angeles-based film crew are following "The Boss of Sauce" nearly 24 hours a day for more than a week. They started their trek on Tuesday, March 8, and along the way discovered that there was much more to Yoshida than most news accounts would have you believe.
"The main theme is that this is someone who has lived the American dream," Yamada says. "He has a humorous side, but this will be a well-balanced documentary. We will show his serious side."
Behind the funny faces
Yamada and his crew gained access to hidden parts of Yoshida's life. They followed him to a private meeting with Gov. Ted Kulongoski, and into his business headquarters and home to talk with his wife Linda and his daughter Kristina McMillan.
On Friday, March 11, the documentary crew visited Yoshida's Wine Bar & Bistro in Portland's Pearl District.
The scene inside the bistro was like something out of a B movie.
Yoshida was decked out in a white robe and rubber samurai hair. He sat at the bistro's wine bar, trading jokes with KGW weatherman Dave Salesky over a bowl of steaming hot noodles.
The duo was filming their regular cooking show, but there was more action than usual.
In front of Yoshida and Salesky, a KGW cameraman filmed the cooking show. Behind him, the Japanese documentary crew filmed the filming. Behind them, a newspaper photographer snapped a picture of the filming of the filming.
Confusing?
Not if you're used to Yoshida's way of life.
 "He's manic," says Salesky, a longtime friend of Yoshida's. "I've emptied more than a few bottles of wine with Junki, and he never slowed down … Next to him I'm just a tall, white guy. I have to play the straight man."
Yoshida admits that he's a little bit manic in front of the camera.
"I am really pumped up when the cameras are on," he says. "That's what comes naturally to me, being funny and joking. Even when I'm giving speeches, I make people laugh."
Having a camera on you for most of the day changes things, though.
"I've been trying to ignore the cameras completely," Yoshida says. "But it is a little exhausting."
Yoshida's serious side comes out if you give it time. A trip to Doernbecher Children's Hospital worked like a magic charm. Yoshida donates time and money to many charities, but Doernbecher is his pet.
"Those children come into this world and they don't ask for this, they don't deserve this," Yoshida says. "How can we not help them?"
Yoshida has never forgotten when his own child Kristina, the first of his three daughters, became very ill. His business was years from being successful, and the family had no health insurance. When a hospital in Seattle helped young Kristina Yoshida, then forgave most of the bill, Yoshida vowed to remember the kindness.
"The film crew came to Doernbecher with me, and it was very emotional," Yoshida says softly. "Very emotional."
Yamada says he's pleased by the project. He extended his stay by a few days and shipped promotional material back to Japan to pump the documentary's March 27 airing.
"Now they have to turn 20 hours of film into a one-hour documentary," Yoshida says.
|
by KELLY MOYER-WADE
photos by FLINT CARLTON
|
| ©2005 Gresham Outlook and CNI
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
