Suitmaker extraordinaire Shinichi Wakasa holds court, discussing his monstrous creations. Photo by Brett Homenick.
On Saturday, December 10, I attended a special dinner event with two alumni from Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (1994), namely suitmaker Shinichi Wakasa and actor Jun Hashizume.
Jun Hashizume listens to a question about his career. Photo by Brett Homenick.
Wakasa-san, of course, is well known for his various kaiju creations over the years. But less known (at least in the West) is Jun Hashizume, the star of Space Godzilla. Hashizume-san returned to the genre 10 years later to play U.N. Secretary General Daigo's aide in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), who meets his end at the hands (wings?) of Rodan. Hashizume-san also starred in the wartime drama Zero (1984), with SFX by Koichi Kawakita.
Hashizume-san smiles as he leafs through a Space Godzilla script. Photo by Brett Homenick.
I'd met Hashizume-san once before. He attended Godzilla's 58th anniversary event at the Cine Pathos movie theater in Ginza, which has since been torn down. This time, I got to speak much more with Hashizume-san, who was as friendly as actors come.
With Shinichi Wakasa.
Space Godzilla will never be my favorite Godzilla film, but so many of the folks who worked on it have turned out to be some of the coolest people you'd ever want to meet.
With Jun Hashizume.
That's all for now. Watch this space for more updates!
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