Welcoming the New Year with a Toei Icon!

Mariko Matsuoka. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Yesterday evening (Sunday, January 21), I was invited to join a gathering that was both a New Year's party as well as a get-together with friends. I was invited by actress Mariko Matsuoka, about whom I've blogged a few times since last year. Overall, I was at the event for about three hours.

For some background, Mariko Matsuoka plays android girl Carolyn in episode 24 of Ultraman Leo (1974-75), Ritsuko Okamura in Kamen Rider Amazon (1974-75), Misaki Minekawa in episode 29 of Akumaizer 3 (1975-76), episode 32 of UFO Great War Fight! Red Tiger (1978), and Jun in episode 37 of Kyoryu Sentai Koseidon (1978-79). She also appears in the Fumio Ishimori-penned Shochiku film Frozen River (1976) as Harumi Hayata.

Mariko Matsuoka sings karaoke. Photo by Brett Homenick.

We met at a restaurant in Toranomon and had a Japanese course meal. While there, I had the chance to pick her brain and find out some more details about her. Matsuoka-san told me that her favorite movies are Field of Dreams (1989) and Singin' in the Rain (1952). 

Because Matsuoka-san's English skills are superior to those of most Japanese I know, I asked her how she learned the language. Surprisingly, she said that she learned English in high school. Additionally, in junior high school, she has a conversation class where she read books like Gulliver`s Travels and Peter Rabbit. She was living in Setagaya Ward at the time.

Matsuoka-san was curious about how I taught English, so I did a demo class with her in which she read a news story in fairly simple language. She thought it was too difficult for her level, but I explained that she would get better over time practicing it like that with a teacher.

At one point, the conversation turned to Shintoism and all the gods in it. Someone mentioned Greek gods, which prompted me to bring up Roman mythology and Hercules. Matsuoka-san that she liked Hercules movies as a kid. But, when I showed her a picture of Steve Reeves, she didn't seem to recognize him, so it's possible she was thinking of something else. A bit later, she mentioned Ben-Hur (1959) as another movie she enjoyed.

When talking about music, she mentioned that she loves Simon & Garfunkel and Nat King Cole.

The owner had a few fun props and assorted items on hand (like a toy gun, a toy katana, etc.), and, due to all the talk about tokusatsu, he brought out a toy Ultra Eye from Ultra Seven (1967-68). he said I look like Moritsugu with the Ultra Eye. When I put it on, Matsuoka-san commented that I looked like Koji Moritsugu, who played Dan Moroboshi in the series. I'll take it!

Matsuoka-san also sang a few karaoke songs during the evening, which was quite fun to hear.

Because Matsuoka-san and I live just one train station apart, we left and rode the trains back together. While riding the trains, she told me about the time she performed in the Soviet Union. She didn't remember exactly when it was, but it was before she was on Kamen Rider Amazon. She went there for about a month and a half for singing engagements, not acting.

She traveled the country via all kinds of transportation modes, including airplanes. The pilots were military, so the way they flew was rough, according to Matsuoka-san, and it was scary to be on those planes. It was also very cold there, and, when she traveled by train, she mostly just saw snow fields. At one point, it was around -40 degrees Celsius. Fascinating stuff! I'd love to hear more sometime!