CELEBRATING TERUYOSHI NAKANO'S CAREER! Fans and Colleagues Turn Out to Salute the Toho SFX Director!

SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano and Toho actress Machiko Naka. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The main event of the day was a special celebration of Teruyoshi Nakano's career as a Toho SFX director. Another featured guest was Toho actress Machiko Naka, who played the mother in Godzilla's Revenge (1969) and was a regular in the successful Young Guy and Company President series.

Things began with a special performance of "Save the Earth" performed on a koto, which was (to say the very least) an interesting way to hear the song. It was obviously played at a much slower tempo than the original, but it was very enjoyable.

The music only continued from there, as Teruyoshi Nakano (and his backup singers!) performed the "We Are Space Pilots" song from Gorath (1962). Of course, longtime readers of this blog know that this wasn't the first time Nakano-san has performed this song at a similar event.

Noriko Sato (left) and Kyoko Ifukube. Photo by Brett Homenick.

There was also a big musical connection with two other guests in attendance. Akira Ifukube's daughter Kyoko was on hand, as was Noriko Sato, who of course comes from the family of the Godzilla series' other major composer, Masaru Sato. 

I had a great time speaking with a lot of the folks there. I was fortunate to sit next to Naka-san for an extended period, as we discussed her career, and I showed her photos of some of her old colleagues from Toho, particularly Tatsuyoshi Ehara, who (like her) was also a regular on the Young Guy series.

Teruyoshi Nakano, Machiko Naka, and yours truly. 

Even though I'd attended the Masaru Sato concert in July, I didn't have a chance to meet Noriko Sato, who was at the event, but this time I most certainly did, and I got to know her quite well. Masaru Sato is actually my favorite Japanese composer.

The event was held on the 58th floor of Sunshine 60 in Ikebukuro, and as you can see from the picture above, we were rather high up. This was an extremely fun event with a lot of variety and friendly people. I hope we can all do it again soon!