Perfect Days (2023) review

Outdoor bathroom attendant Hirayama (Kōji Yakusho) has a regimented life: he wakes early, tends to his plants, drinks a can of cold Boss coffee, listens to (mostly Western) older songs on his drive to work, scrubs the restrooms dutifully and takes photographs of the foliage during his lunch break - the routine is somewhat broken once his niece Niko (Arisa Nakano) appears and stays with him, and then when her mother (Hirayama's sister) shows up to take Niko home, she acts as an unpleasant reminder of Hirayama's past.  As someone who spent his high school years working as an after-hours office cleaner, I appreciate the dignity afforded the lead figure - just because you have a "menial profession" doesn't mean you can't enjoy literature (he reads William Faulkner and Patricia Highsmith) or music (the Anglophile in Wenders can't resist having the likes of Lou Reed, Patti Smith and Nina Simone on the soundtrack) - and it suggests one can have a fulfilling existence without a spouse and children and taking pride in your job.  Where it falters slightly, however, is in being a bit repetitive, and since Yakusho's character is not highly verbal, almost nothing is revealed about him, his level of education, how he grew up or what led him to essentially "retreating" to his cozy little apartment.  And those tears at the conclusion bring up even more questions: is it out of sadness or joy?  Or perhaps a combination of both?