"I don't have talent. Intuition and instinct are my biggest weapons." That's the somewhat startling self-characterization from Tokyo-based Muto Masashi.

Known for his surreal and sensual images that somehow combine an organic dream-like tone with overt technical mastery, Masashi has begun to conquer creative briefs beyond his native Japan.

Liz Kessler, video commissioner for Island Records in London, experienced Masashi's self-effacing nature firsthand when she entrusted him to direct Frou Frou's "Must Be Dreaming" promo in 2002.

"Muto is quite a quiet man and doesn't reveal himself easily," she muses. "It's easier to get a measure of him from watching his work rather than watching him."

Of the hundreds of directors that a UK label might choose to direct a music promo, why would they look 10 time zones away in Tokyo? "I loved his reel; it was really original," enthuses Kessler.

Masashi's route into directing was original, too. A degree in Trade and Commerce led to a job at Sony selling video cameras. The clients he called on were production companies and he was soon hooked by the business.

In 1986 he braved the leap to the production world and spent five years as a director's assistant at prodco North in Tokyo, designing visuals for Issey Miyake and Comme des Garcons catwalk shows.

Masashi's combination of left-brain tech smarts and right-brain fashion instinct struck Kessler. "We wanted someone who worked a lot with post-production, yet blended that with an ability to shoot great beauty work on women. For Frou Frou this was the ideal combination."

Was there something about growing up in Japan that contributed to this integrated approach? "More or less," answers Masashi. "There is a word that only exists in Japanese, 'wabi-sabi', that explains our mentality for finding higher thinking in simplicity."

This philosophy is evident in Masashi's latest opus for Smirnoff Ice through JWT, Tokyo. "It's just a bottle of Smirnoff Ice running and gunning a bobsled course. It is so simple that its impact is maximized," he says.

External influences include iconoclast director David Lynch. "His style is difficult and always betrays my expectations in a good way." He also favors Stanley Kubrick and Akira Kurosawa's dynamics, precision and particularity.

Muto is repped in Japan by To Max and across the rest of the planet by Treatment, the music visuals division of London-based prodco Bermuda Shorts. Treatmentproducer Sam Pattison says Masashi first came to his attention at the One Dot Zero digital fest in London where the director's opening sequence for Sony's PlayStation caught his eye.

But Pattison explains: "Even though England likes a lot of the creative that comes out of Japan, there's real apprehension when it comes to signing up a director who's based that far away with the difference in culture and the language barriers."

The forces of the universe converged last July when Island asked Pattison to track Masashi down for the Frou Frou assignment, while Treatment was looking to sign him anyway.

Since then, Masashi has worked his magic for the "Scorpio Rising" promo for Death in Vegas through BMG, UK.

Coming soon are spots for Lipton Ice Tea for JWT, Tokyo, and Tiger Beer for McCann-Erickson, Hong Kong, for the Asian market.

Further ahead, Masashi has a simple wish: "Most of my work comes from Japan and some from the UK, but I would like to work with creative people all around the world."

Information:
Home base: Tokyo
Represented by: Treatment (UK), To Max (Japan)
Years directing: 12
Shoot days: 59
What his co-workers say: "Despite the communications barriers [my Japanese, his English] he revealed himself to be a good director with vision, commitment and intensity" - Island Records' Liz Kessler

WEBFILES:
Treatment> http://www.bermudashorts.com