If Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang threw a dinner party, it's easy to guess who would be invited. Tsai has staunchly and consistently worked with the same small cluster of actors from his 1992 debut film "Rebels of the Neon God" through to "Stray Dogs," which will open in Tokyo on Sept. 6, under the Japan title "Picnic." Some of these actors are closer to him than family.

Tsai is known as one of Asian cinema's most enduring auteurs. He has a style that rejects conventional cinema logic while propounding a particularly stark aesthetic. In his homeland of Taiwan, Tsai's reputation is that of a difficult and unapproachable artist. "Stray Dogs," a Mandarin-language film released originally as "Jiao You," opened in Taiwan earlier this year, but not before winning the grand jury prize at the Venice Film Festival.

"I didn't think it would open at all. It's not for everyone, but then, none of my films are," Tsai tells The Japan Times on a trip to Tokyo.