What I Learned in Vancouver: Something More Important Than Location

“Why did you choose Vancouver?”

When you’re working abroad, this is a question you hear almost without fail. As an actor aiming for Hollywood, my reason for choosing Vancouver wasn’t particularly dramatic.

But behind that choice lay the reality I faced at the time, and one hypothesis that still drives me today.

Why did I choose Canada to aim for Hollywood?

Since arriving in Vancouver, there’s a question I get asked almost every time:

“Why did you choose Vancouver?” “What made you pick this place?”

The answer itself is quite simple:

“The closest place to Hollywood where I could actually get a work visa.”

People often follow up with, “Why not America?”

The truth is, America’s visa barriers were high, and for me at the time, actually ‘working’ there just wasn’t realistic.

That’s why I chose Canada—somewhere I could go on a Working Holiday visa while still being close to the U.S.

I think this is a reason many Japanese actors coming to Canada would share.

From there, it was a question of Toronto or Vancouver—or so you’d think, but honestly, I barely researched Toronto at all.

My thinking was something like, “Canada means Vancouver, right?” It was honestly that rough.

But one thing I know for sure is that I was drawn to Vancouver, known as ‘Hollywood North.’

・It’s the third-largest film production hub in North America, after Los Angeles and New York

・BC’s tax incentives help keep production costs down

・The city has everything—urban settings, ocean, mountains, forests—making it versatile for filming

Hearing all this, I thought, “Vancouver’s probably the best bet, right?” and decided with that level of feeling.

Looking back now, I think I was operating on a single hypothesis at the time:

“More filming = more opportunities”

I chose Vancouver because I believed in that hypothesis.

What I only saw after getting here

Even back in Japan, once I’d decided on Vancouver, I was constantly gathering information. You can learn about acting schools and production companies to some extent through research.

But the real information—”How do you actually compete here?” “What walls will you face?”—that kind of ground-level reality was impossible to grasp from the internet.

So I decided that once I arrived, my top priority would be “meeting people locally and gathering information directly.” Looking back, that decision was the right one.

Though not because opportunities suddenly multiplied—it was right in the sense that ‘I learned the reality early on.’

And contrary to my hypothesis, after living here for a year and a half, I discovered a truth:

‘While Vancouver does have a lot of Hollywood productions filming here, the main cast is often decided outside of Canada.’

Especially for projects involving Japan, auditions are frequently completed entirely in Japan.

By the time things flow to the local level, the major roles are already filled. What’s available are the leftover roles or minor parts.

To begin with, there aren’t many Japanese actors working in Vancouver. When you think about it, it makes structural sense that casting happens in Japan.

“More filming = more opportunities for me”

Reality turned out to be a lot less simple than that.

What Should I Actually Face?

When I learned this reality, the first question I asked myself was: “So what now?”

I can’t control audition opportunities or casting decisions.

But I can choose whether I just stand still and wait, or change how I move. At the very least, that part is in my hands.

So then, what should I actually face?

That question still sits at the center of my actions today.

After living here for a year and a half, there’s something I’ve come to feel: “Maybe this place suits me.” It’s that everything here is determined by your own actions.

This city is full of immigrants. Everyone kind of has that “first year” mindset. There are lots of driven people, and plenty of chances to meet them.

Which also means: for someone like me, who came from elsewhere as a complete nobody, this is absolutely not a place where “you’ll get discovered if you just wait.” Nothing starts unless you move.

The freedom you get comes with responsibility that lands right back on you. That balance felt just right for me.

So I just kept going out to meet people. Film sets, events, acting classes. Even when my English was terrible, I volunteered, helped out—whatever I could do, I did. If it had anything to do with acting, film, or theater, I didn’t hesitate to invest my time or money. I wanted to grasp the local “atmosphere” as fast as I could.

Information and opportunities don’t fall in the same place over and over. But if you go meet people, you can gather information. And once you have information, that leads to the next opportunity.

For example, there’s a senior colleague I met through volunteer work—let’s call them A. When I decided to create a stage production, I asked A about everything I didn’t understand.

A always answered thoughtfully and encouraged me, saying “You’ve got this.”

Whenever A had an event, I made sure to go. I think relationships grow through this kind of back-and-forth—all those “I show up for you, you show up for me” moments stacked over time.

Waiting Changes Nothing.
You Just Move to Make It Right

There was one more thing I really wanted to get my hands on: a “system” that would let me keep going steadily, without losing my center, no matter what was happening.

These days, I go to a café every single morning to work. I spend that time on what I want to do—writing scripts, preparing projects, that kind of thing.

It’s not flashy at all, but having a ‘routine I control myself’ means I’m much less likely to lose myself, whether another pandemic hits or a job I was counting on gets cancelled.

This is my survival strategy—my way of not succumbing to the fear of “waiting.”

As an actor, you inevitably spend a lot of time “waiting to be chosen.” To avoid letting that waiting time wear down your heart, you have to deliberately create time you can control yourself.

So in the end, was choosing Vancouver the right decision?

Honestly, I still don’t know. I’m still in the middle of checking my work.

My tentative conclusion right now is this:

Whether it’s Vancouver or anywhere else, how many seeds you plant in your first year determines what your second and third years will look like.

In Vancouver especially, it often feels like your level of commitment is constantly being tested.

Rather than searching for the “perfect place,” I’m focused on ‘how much I moved in the place I chose.’

That’s where my focus is now. And lately, I’m finally ready to not just move, but to fully own whatever those movements lead to.

The landscape you’ll see from here on out can be shaped however you want by how you move now.

Your current situation might not be what you wanted. But how will you turn this “not ideal” present into your own version of “the right place”?