Ultraman Jack Celebrates the Year That Was 2023!

Kaiju Sakaba in Shimbashi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

 

Last night (Friday, December 22), I attended another end-of-the-year party, but this time it was at Kaiju Sakaba near Shimbashi Station. It'd been a long time since I last went to Kaiju Sakaba, which made it a bit more special as a location. 

Photo by Brett Homenick.

I'd forgotten about the Roman Holiday-inspired Jamila display that lights up and roars when you put your hand in it. It's something the staff basically forces you to put your hand in before you enter. 

Gomora is ready to party! Photo by Brett Homenick.

The guest of honor was suit actor Eiichi Kikuchi. Kikuchi-san is principally known as Ultraman Jack's suit actor in Return of Ultraman (1971-72). He also donned the Ultra Seven suit in Ultra Seven (1967-68) for two episodes (14 and 15) and tussles with Sean Connery in the classic James Bond thriller You Only Live Twice (1967).

Photo by Brett Homenick.

It was a lot of fun to see Kikuchi-san again. His clothing style that evening suggested that of a cowboy. In fact, he was wearing a belt buckle that read something along the lines of, "In Dixie, we don't call 911." I asked Kikuchi-san where he bought his belt, and, interestingly enough, he said he got it in Japan!

Eiichi Kikuchi and an old friend. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Underneath his flannel shirt, however, was a T-shirt he wore in honor of Jiro Dan, the late actor who played Hideki Go, Ultraman Jack's human alter ego in Return of Ultraman, who passed away in March of this year. 

Photo by Brett Homenick.

Here are some memories from the evening: At one point during the evening, I made the Specium Ray pose, but Kikuchi-san corrected the position of my arms, pointing out that it would have obscured the Color Timer. Well, folks, that's why he's Ultraman!

Photo by Brett Homenick.

Another fun memory was when Kikuchi-san (whom I had the privilege of sitting almost directly across from during the evening) was coming back to his seat. He put his hand on my shoulder as he passed my chair, which was a lovely thing for him to do. 

Photo by Brett Homenick.

Also on hand was former Toho SFX crew member and tokusatsu book author Masahiko Shiraishi, who worked primarily on the Heisei series, starting with Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) and culminating with Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). 

It'd been a while since I last saw Shiraishi-san, and our conversation covered such topics as MGM musicals (Shiraishi-san loves them!) and Fred Astaire movies (he loves those, too!). 

During the evening, I asked Shiraishi-san if he considers Chofu (the home of Daiei and Nikkatsu) or Seijo (the home of Toho) to be Japan's equivalent of Hollywood. He selected neither of those options and went with Kyoto instead. A very fascinating and unexpected answer! I hadn't considered Kyoto a possibility before, but, at least in the context of its Showa-era heyday, it ought to be in the running.

Masahiko Shiraishi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

There were other familiar faces on hand, such as Yutaka Arai, who has worked as an SFX director on independent kaiju eiga. It was great to say hello to several folks I hadn't seen in a while.

What a wonderful end-of-the-year celebration this was. Everyone was in the holiday spirit and had a fun time. I'm glad I went and, as always, can't wait to do it again!