Celebrating Godzilla's Birthday in a Kaiju-Sized Way!

From left to right: Mizuho Yoshida, Toshio Miike, and Akira Ohashi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

November 3 marks Godzilla's 67th birthday, and, while it may seem that celebrations of this milestone are limited to online gatherings, think again! One event was held live and in person and featured no fewer than three kaiju eiga luminaries!

One of the guests was veteran SFX art director and production designer Toshio Miike, who has worked on: Gunhed (1989), Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Zeiram (1991), Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995), Gamera 2 (1996), Gamera 3 (1999), GMK (2001), Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (2002), Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003), Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), and Shin Godzilla (2016).

Akira Ohashi with a Gamera 2 toy. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Also on hand was suit actor Akira Ohashi. Ohashi-san played Gamera in Gamera 2, Irys in Gamera 3, King Ghidorah in GMK, and a bevy of other characters in both movies and television.

Akira Ohashi, ready for battle! Photo by Brett Homenick.

It was my first time to meet Ohashi-san, but he couldn't have been nicer, and he isn't afraid to mug for the camera, which makes for some interesting shots!

In that sense, he shares a lot in common with Yoshida-san!

Last but cretianly not least was suit actor Mizuho Yoshida. Yoshida-san portrays Zeiram in both Zeiram and Zeiram 2 (1994), Legion in Gamera 2, Death Ghidorah (a.k.a. Desghidorah) in Rebirth of Mothra (1996), Dagahra in Rebirth of Mothra 2 (1997), and Godzilla in GMK, among other suit-acting roles.

We took a few fun photos together, but I decided to go with the more relaxed ones. Maybe someday I'll post the shot where it looks like we're brawling!

What a way to celebrate Godzilla's birthday! I couldn't think of a better way to have done it. I'm so glad to be a part of these events again!