It was 1982, and teenage student of history Hiro Arai had just landed in London from his native Japan. Immediately smitten with the likes of British rock star David Bowie, Arai formed an electric-rock band called X-Men and began performing live, playing bass guitar and composing more than 100 songs between gigs.

But it was an uphill struggle trying to make a living with a touring band.

“You get to work more, but are paid less,” Arai says in his charming — if heavily accented — English. The aspiring musician decided to take a few jobs on the side —and dabbled in courses in fashion modeling. Soon, his career took off as Arai appeared in countless fashion shows and landed the cover of the United Kingdom edition of Vogue.

Arai’s modeling career put him in the right place at the right time, and it wasn’t long before he was chosen to star in an ad for Pepsi-Cola for South America and Europe.

But his foray into professional acting was complete chance.

“One night when I was playing with X-Men at the Covent Garden Hard Rock Café, and a person with a familiar face came to see our performance,” Arai recalls. “When we were introduced, I discovered he was a very big artist manager called Simon Napier-Bell who handled Wham!, David Sylvain, Marc Bolan of T.Rex and even actor Rupert Everett. I thought it was a great opportunity for me to become a big-shot pop star but, to my surprise, he looked into my eyes and told me that I should quit music and become an actor. Though I’d never thought about it, I decided to take his advice and went to study acting at Goodge Street Studios in London.”

It was Napier-Bell who introduced Arai to the British movie scene and helped him land the starring role in the 1986 psychological thriller Captive opposite the late great British character actor Oliver Reed. Written and directed by Paul Mayersberg, the movie is a variation on the story of heiress Patty Hearst, who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in the US and joined her captors in holding up a San Francisco bank in 1974. In the Mayersberg version, the action was moved to England, where Arai plays a Japanese guy called Hiro, one of three kidnappers who abduct spoiled rich teen Rowena (played by actress Irina Brook, the daughter of stage director Peter Brook).

“My character was not your regular stereotyped Asian villain, but it had more of a romantic side,” says Arai. “At the beginning, he and his two friends were rich and carried out their crime simply for some enjoyment, but then he starts to feel for Rowena because she looks like his former girlfriend who passed away a few years before.”

The film received mixed reviews, but Arai remembers that the British newspapers lauded his performance. “They said that I changed the image of the stereotype Japanese, which was surprising because I played a stereotype Japanese! So I don’t know what the critics saw in my performance. Maybe some humanity? Anyway, I was very pleased with this experience because I enjoyed being an actor more than a musician.”

But nothing was as fun as working with director Steven Spielberg.

“I always dreamt of working with Spielberg, and when I heard he was making a movie about Japan I told myself, ‘It’s now or never.’ When he came to London preparing to shoot Empire of the Sun in 1987, I managed to get a copy of the script through a very well connected friend. But when I read it, I realized that there was no character for me to play.

“Nonetheless, I managed to make an appointment with him. During our conversation, we talked about Hollywood and Japanese films that we both liked. Spielberg is like a little kid — very kind, charming and funny. When he is directing, he is not tense and very relaxed because he enjoys what he is doing.”

Empire of the Sun was partially shot in Berkshire, England, instead of China, where the story took place. Arai played a Japanese sergeant, a role Spielberg created especially for him. His part took one week to shoot and Arai wasn’t even sure if his scenes would make it to the final cut. To him it was the once-in-a-lifetime chance of working with Spielberg that mattered most.

“When I saw the film, I was very happy because my scenes were intact,” Arai recalls.

After the release of the movie, the up-and-coming star was cast in several British TV series where he played typical Japanese roles. Feeling bored and typecast, Arai recalls, “[Although] people advised me to stay in England to get more important roles, I wanted a change of scenery and aimed to pursue acting in a different environment. So I went back to Japan to study method acting at Tokyo Actors Studio while seeking a few roles in the Japanese entertainment industry.

“In the following years, I divided my time between cinema, television and stage. In the movies, I starred in Cop (1992) by director Kanox, The Most Terrible Time in My Life (1994) and To the Ones I Love (1996) by director Kaizo Hayashi.

“On TV I appeared in several soaps, like Marginal Man (1993) and on stage I starred in a production of Battle Royal (1990) by Ginzi Gao. These were completely different roles that varied between action, comedy and romance. Because I was successful in playing a Japanese mafia hit man, I started to get more of these roles. But I didn’t enjoy watching my work anymore and I decided to stop acting completely.”

In 1997, Hiro decided to take a long break and travel around the world. His first stop was the Middle East and North Africa, simply because he had always been fascinated by the Sahara. He went to different Arab countries including Morocco, Libya, Oman and Syria, but he was most astonished when he came to Egypt in 1999. “I decided to reside in Zamalek to enjoy the life in Cairo. I feel like I am in a big theater when I walk down the streets,” says Arai.

After splitting his time between Japan and Cairo, Arai went home in 2000 to direct In the City, a production of the PIA Film Festival.

“It was a short documentary about loneliness in big cities. I thought I did a good job but somehow the festival found the movie too difficult to be understood because I edited it in a very experimental way. Afterward I decided to go back to Egypt for good. It was around that time that I developed an interest in still photography,” explains Arai.

Arai’s interest in photography began as a hobby, but his friends told him he should think about taking it up professionally.

“I took my best pictures in Egypt because your country has natural light at night and during the day,” he says. “I was interested in taking photos in Cairo and Alexandria, and I also went to many oases. I already held an exhibition of my early photographs at the Townhouse Gallery in 2005. Some French people liked them and bought the collection. I hope to have another one this year featuring only photographs of Cairo. I’m also planning an exhibition of my photography in Japan.”

The budding photographer has developed a special approach to making photographs, saying he approaches it as if directing a film, trying to reflect the emotional states and stories of those he sees. When photographing landscapes, he likes to place his own character inside the surrounding atmosphere.

“Egyptian people are like actors; they are so emotional, not like the Japanese who hide their feelings deep inside because it’s not polite to show them. On the Japanese screens, though, we were allowed to show our emotions. And this is a very strange, unreal balance,” he says.

Last year, Arai decided to return to cinema and accept an acting role. His latest movie, A Fairy Tale of Sand, co-starring Egyptian actress Rola Mahmoud, is a Japanese production directed by Yukinari Hanawa.

“A Fairy Tale of Sand is a road movie in which I play this Japanese man who comes to Egypt searching for a missing person. His search takes him on a trip around the country that turns into a spiritual experience. Of course there is a surprisingly good twist that I won’t reveal,” says Arai.

“It was special experience because we shot in Cairo, Alexandria and the Bahariyya Oasis,” says Arai. “Hanawa and I go back a long time. We were good friends in Japan and we stayed in contact all that time.”

Hanawa’s previous film, Hatsukoi (First Love), was screened at the latest Cairo Film Festival. A Fairy Tale of Sand is set for release here sometime this year.  et