A Legendary Afternoon in the Company of a Toho Legend!

Yasuhiko Saijo. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier today (Wednesday November 1), I had the distinct privilege of spending an afternoon with former Toho and Tsuburaya Productions actor Yasuhiko Saijo, best known for playing Ippei Togawa on the groundbreaking TV series Ultra Q (1966), as well as a bevy of Toho films, including Son of Godzilla (1967) and Destroy All Monsters (1968). 

Yasuhiko Saijo. Photo by Brett Homenick.

We met Saijo-san at a historic temple in his neighborhood as scheduled, after which we moved on to a nearby cafe run by a family friend. I brought my friend Jacob to meet Saijo-san, who of course was very excited to meet him. Considering I hadn't seen Saijo-san in four years, I was rather excited, too.

We met at 2:00, and I expected the meeting to last somewhere between 30 minutes to an hour. Would you believe we spent just under three hours together? I hope you would because we did! During the first part of the afternoon, Saijo-san regaled us with stories about his acting career and early life, talking about the various roles he had, as well as the other Toho actors he knew and worked with. 

Yasuhiko Saijo. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After that, Saijo-san graciously signed some items we brought and took pictures inside the cafe. Jacob brought some car magazines from the U.S. as gifts, knowing that Saijo-san loves cars. He was especially interested in the photos of vintage cars, as those are the ones he prefers. 

Afterward, Saijo-san took us around the neighborhood. I was fascinated by just how many people he knew. He was very much a man about town. During our walk, I was captivated by Saijo-san's sense of humanity. He doesn't like modern technology very much -- computers, smartphones, etc. -- and instead prefers people. When I heard Saijo-san explain his thoughts, and, when I saw him interact with the other residents of his neighborhood, I understood exactly what he was saying. 

While the discussion was mostly fun and lighthearted, Saijo-san did share some of his memories during the war and immediately after it, as well as his thoughts on some of the goings-on around the world. Suffice it to say, I was mesmerized by our discussion.

I was over the moon to see Saijo-san doing so well. He pointed out that he turns 85 in February next year, but you'd never know it to look at him. I told him he's looking well, and he responded by saying that he is doing well. Now that's what I wanted to hear!

Saijo-san is a true legend. Jacob and I took many photos with Saijo-san, and he was more than happy to oblige our requests. In the above photo, he was trying to get closer to my height, which you can probably see in his expression. I should also point out that, when we were leaving the cafe, I intended to pay the bill, but the owner told us the bill had already been taken care of. I tried to protest, but it did me no good. They just don't make folks like this anymore. 

What a day. It exceeded all my expectations by far. It would've been incredible just to share a few moments with Saijo-san at the cafe. But to get a guided tour of his neighborhood afterward was simply amazing. The three hours flew by in what seemed like a third of the time. I'm still processing it all. 

Thank you very much, Saijo-san! This day was truly one for the history books!