CELEBRATING GODZILLA'S BIRTHDAY WITH ULF OTSUKI! The Toho Actor Sends the Big G His Best Wishes!

Hanging with actor Ulf Otsuki after dinner at an Indian restaurant in Tokyo.

November 3 marks Godzilla's 61st birthday, and to celebrate the occasion, I visited actor Ulf Otsuki (Godzilla vs. Megalon) at his home. Ulf's credits in tokusatsu are legendary. He has appeared in Space Giants (1966-67), Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (1967-68), Fight! Mighty Jack (1968), Rainbowman (1972-73), Kamen Rider Stronger (1975), Daitetsujin 17 (1977), Kamen Rider Super 1 (1980-81), and most recently Kamen Rider Drive (2014-15). He also appears in Juzo Itami's Tampopo (1985).

The sun sets on Edogawa, bringing the end to a beautiful day. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I had a great time visiting Edogawa, which is a place I don't get to see very often. It's a beautiful area, and it certainly has a much different feel from the rest of Tokyo. If you don't like the hustle and bustle of Shinjuku or Shibuya, you may find Edogawa more to your liking.

I met up with Ulf at his house, and we caught up on many things. After spending a couple of hours there, we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. It was very tasty (and very spicy!), and it was a fun way to celebrate Godzilla's birthday.

We had a blast, and I hope Godzilla did, too!