Naoya Makoto (left) and Shun Sugata. Photo by Brett Homenick.
Today, Monday, January 13, was a public holiday in Japan, and as luck would have it, I was able to attend the first Showa Hero event of the New Year. The guests on hand were no strangers to the realm of herodom -- Naoya Makoto and Shun Sugata.
Naoya Makoto. Photo by Brett Homenick.
Naoya Makoto starred as the titular hero's human alter ego, Daisuke Misaki, in Tsuburaya Productions' Fireman (1973), as well as Tsuyoshi Kaijo/Akaranger in the original Super Sentai program Himitsu Sentai Goranger (1975-77).
I've met Makoto-san several times, and while Goranger is certainly a groundbreaking tokusatsu program that launched the Super Sentai series in Japan, I must admit that I prefer Fireman.
Shun Sugata. Photo by Brett Homenick.
Shun Sugata played Kamen Rider ZX in the TV special Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together!! (1984). His other tokusatsu roles include episode 39 of Denshi Sentai Denjiman (1980-81) as Akimoto and Engine Sentai Go-onger (2008-09) episode 13 as Gang Father.
In films, Sugata-san has appeared in Pulse (2001), Ichi the Killer (2001), Graveyard of Honor (2002), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) as Boss Benta, The Last Samurai (2003) as Nakao, Izo (2004), Tokyo Gore Police (2008), and Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016) as the samurai commander.
As always, it was another enjoyable event, and the guests were a lot of fun to meet.
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