Godzilla sighted on the Chuo-Sobu Line! Suit actor Ken Satsuma travels to the signing event in Nakano. Photo by Brett Homenick.
Today I attended a talk show and signing event in Nakano, Tokyo. Held on the 15th floor of the Sun Plaza (right next door to the Nakano Broadway Mall), the three major Godzilla suit actors were the guests of honor. Haruo Nakajima, Kenpachiro Satsuma, and Tsutomu Kitagawa were big hits with the fans, as they happily signed autographs and posed for photos!
Three Godzillas! What does it mean!?
Following a talk show session, all three suit actors signed autographs for their fans. The first suit actor I met in line was Kenpachiro Satsuma, who played Godzilla from 1984-1995. I had Satsuma-san sign my DVD sleeve of Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), in which he plays Gigan. Satsuma-san's signature joins those of Katsuhiko Sasaki, Yutaka Hayashi, Teruyoshi Nakano, Ulf Otsuki, and Riichiro Manabe! I also purchased a copy of Satsuma-san's book and had that signed as well.
Posing with Kenpachiro Satsuma, who not only played the Heisei Godzilla, but also Hedorah and Gigan!
Next for me was meeting Haruo Nakajima, the original Godzilla suit actor from 1954-1972. I had Nakajima-san sign my Blu-ray sleeve for King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), as well as a copy of his brand-new photo book, which contains many incredible still shots from Nakajima-san's acting career. When I approached his table, Nakajima-san's daughter, Sonoe, whispered to her father who I was, and Nakajima-san greeted me with a big smile.
Then we took several photos like the one below. The last several times I've met Nakajima-san, we've always taken photos like this. It's practically a tradition now!
The final guest for me was Millennium series suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa, who played Godzilla from 1999-2004 (minus GMK). Kitagawa-san was also very friendly and welcoming. He signed my Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) DVD sleeve.
When I was about to leave, a surprise guest showed up -- none other than Robert Scott Field! That's right, M11 from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) happened to be in Tokyo at the time and was invited to attend by Kitagawa-san. Scott spent a lot of time catching up with Satsuma-san as well as Kitagawa-san. Interestingly, this marks the first time I've actually seen Scott in Japan. But, considering he lives in Osaka, that's not too surprising!
Overall, it was a fun event, and the highlight was getting to see old friends and great guests. I hope to attend more such events in the future.
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