Why the Hell Not?

"I'm more classical japanese," says 22-year-old Ayako Fujitani, "than I am an all-American girl." Which must say something about the relative strength of national genes: Fujitani's paternal half is karate-klunker-star Steven Seagal, her mother is Miyako Fujitani, a famous aikido instructor, and their offspring has switched from using brawn to brains to get ahead. After six ditsy roles in movies, Fujitani wrote her first novel, Touhimu, in 1999. It was turned into the aloof and alienated film Ritual, which received an award for Best Artistic Contribution at Tokyo's 13th International Film Festival—a double triumph for Fujitani, since she played the lead. Now, she's busy trying to finish her second novel. "It's tough," she confides over a glass of rye whiskey in a Tokyo bar. "I'm really just very lazy."

Or maybe just too busy: Fujitani has more lives going than her father (who a few years back was proclaimed the incarnate of a Tibetan monk). She writes articles on culture, film, design and fashion for four magazines, has two film acting projects on the boil and will soon be seen in 29-year-old French director Siegfried Debrebant's as yet untitled film about youth. "He just turned up last year in Tokyo and asked if I wanted to make a movie the next day. We don't even speak a common language, but I thought why the hell not." We can't argue with that.