Hirayama shoots on an Olympus μ — a small, cheap, plastic 35mm point-and-shoot from the 1990s. Wim Wenders confirmed it himself, and said the choice came from his cinematographer, Franz Lustig. What Wenders did not say is "μ-II," which is the model nearly every English article names. That extra roman numeral is not in the source.
We are leading with that because this film's most-searched object is currently answered by a wall of pages that cite nothing. Below: what the director actually said, what the camera is, what it costs now, plus the books Hirayama reads and the toilets he cleans — both of which have official documentation that almost nobody links to.
What the director actually said
In an interview with Japanese film site eiga.com, published December 2023, Wenders was asked directly whether using that camera was his idea. His answer, translated:
"Yes. My cinematographer Franz Lustig recommended it as one of the best compact cameras."
That is the whole primary record. The model named is "Olympus μ" — no variant.
The μ line ran through several versions from 1991, and the μ-II (sold as the Stylus Epic in North America) is the famous one among film photographers. It is entirely plausible that the μ-II is what is on screen. But plausible is not confirmed, and the difference matters if you are about to spend money on the "right" one.
Our position: buy any μ you like the look of. If you specifically want the model the internet insists on, buy the μ-II knowing that the attribution is a community assumption rather than something Wenders or the production has said.
What the camera actually is
A small, weatherproof, plastic-bodied 35mm point-and-shoot with a fixed 35mm lens, a clamshell cover, and essentially no controls. You point it. It focuses and exposes. That is all.
It is the correct camera for this character in a way that is genuinely elegant. Hirayama photographs the same thing every day — light through leaves, komorebi — on a camera that gives him no settings to fiddle with and no screen to check. He cannot see what he got until the film is developed. The camera enforces the film's whole argument about attention and repetition.
What it costs now: discontinued, so secondhand only. The film-compact market has been inflating for a decade, and the μ-II in particular has become a collector item with prices to match. Ordinary μ variants remain far cheaper and take the same pictures.
Two honest warnings if you are buying:
- The clamshell and the flash are the failure points. Sellers often list a camera as working when only the shutter has been tested. Ask specifically whether the flash fires and whether the cover slides cleanly.
- Film is now the expensive part. A roll plus development is real money per 36 frames. The camera is the cheap end of this hobby, not the expensive end.
Where to buy one, and what to check
There is no official channel — the μ line ended long ago, so every purchase is secondhand. In practice that means eBay, Japanese used-camera dealers, or a specialist like KEH in the US, which tests and grades what it sells and is worth the premium if you are new to film cameras.
Prices swing wildly with condition and hype. The plain μ variants sit at a fraction of what the μ-II commands, and the pictures are indistinguishable to anyone who is not pixel-peeping a scan.
If you want the practice, not the object: the meaningful thing Hirayama does is shoot one frame of the same subject daily and not look at it. Any film camera does that. So does a phone with the screen ignored — the discipline is the point, and it is free.
The books
Easier to answer, and better documented, because the film's official site lists them:
| Book | Author |
|---|---|
| The Wild Palms | William Faulkner |
| Trees | Aya Kōda |
| Eleven | Patricia Highsmith |
The Highsmith is the one that does narrative work — the story "The Terrapin" is referenced on screen, and it is a famously bleak piece of writing to hand a character defined by gentleness.
All three are in print in English. This is the cheapest possible way to own something from this film, and unlike the camera there is no ambiguity about what you are buying.
There is also an official companion book: Wim Wenders Perfect Days Diaries: Against the Light by Takuma Takasaki, published by Little More in 2024.
The toilets are real, and you can visit them
The public toilets Hirayama cleans are not sets. They are THE TOKYO TOILET — 17 public toilets in Shibuya, designed by 16 creators including Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ban, Kengo Kuma, Marc Newson, Toyo Ito, Sou Fujimoto, Fumihiko Maki and NIGO. The project was funded by The Nippon Foundation, with management transferred to Shibuya City in April 2024.
They are free, public, and open. You can walk to them.
One thing worth knowing: neither official site mentions the film. The connection is real — Wenders was invited to make something about the project — but if you go looking for a Perfect Days pilgrimage page on the official sites, you will not find one. The buildings are documented as architecture, which is arguably better.
If you are in Tokyo, the Ban-designed transparent toilets in Yoyogi Fukamachi and Haru-no-Ogawa are the ones people photograph — the glass frosts when locked.
The apartment, and why there is nothing to buy
Production designer Towako Kuwajima built Hirayama's flat, and in an interview about it she describes an approach that makes a shopping list impossible: olive-green walls chosen with the director, a lamp assembled from a chemistry-flask stand, a wine crate housing the cassette deck, seedling pots borrowed from her sister and from a stylist's shop that dressed Ozu-era productions.
Nothing in that room is a product. It is a set built from found objects, which is exactly why it looks like a real person's home rather than a furniture catalogue.
The one thing to take from it: the room reads as it does because everything in it has a use and nothing is decorative. That is free to copy, and it is the opposite of what an interiors page usually tells you.
Two things circulating that we will not repeat
The van. Hirayama's Daihatsu Hijet is visible on screen, but the widely-cited article identifying the exact generation is a hobbyist column that says outright it is guessing. There is no statement from Wenders, the production or Daihatsu. It is a Hijet Cargo; the model year is unconfirmed.
The soundtrack album. There isn't one. The film's official site lists the licensed songs — The Animals, The Velvet Underground, Otis Redding, Patti Smith, The Rolling Stones, Sachiko Kanenobu, Lou Reed, The Kinks, Maki Asakawa, Van Morrison, Nina Simone, Patrick Watson — but no official soundtrack release exists. Anything sold as one is not official.
FAQ
What camera does Hirayama use in Perfect Days? An Olympus μ compact 35mm film camera. Wim Wenders confirmed it in a 2023 interview and said his cinematographer, Franz Lustig, recommended it.
Is it the Olympus mju II? Unconfirmed. Wenders said "Olympus μ" with no variant. The μ-II attribution is widespread online but does not come from the director or the production.
Where can I buy one? Secondhand only — the line is discontinued. Check that the flash fires and the clamshell cover slides properly, not just that the shutter works. Non-μ-II variants are considerably cheaper.
What books does Hirayama read? Faulkner's The Wild Palms, Aya Kōda's Trees, and Patricia Highsmith's Eleven — listed on the film's official site. The Highsmith story "The Terrapin" is referenced on screen.
Are the toilets real? Yes. They are THE TOKYO TOILET, 17 public toilets in Shibuya by 16 architects and designers, free and open to the public.
Can I buy the furniture from his apartment? No. The set was built from found and borrowed objects — a chemistry-flask lamp, a wine crate, pots from a family member. There are no products to identify.
Is there an official soundtrack? No. The songs are licensed existing recordings and no official album was released.
What van does he drive? A Daihatsu Hijet Cargo. The specific generation is repeated widely online but traces back to a column that admits it is speculating, so we are not stating it as fact.