Joining a Tsuburaya Pro Legend for Dinner!

Akihide Tsuzawa. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Tonight (Wednesday, March 27), I enjoyed the company of former child actor Akihide Tsuzawa with whom I ate dinner at a Jonathan's family restaurant near his home. Tsuzawa-san played Hoshino in the original Ultraman (1966-67) TV series, which makes me wish we could have met at a Hoshino Coffee instead!

I was surprised to find that Tsuzawa-san had another present for me. It was a pamphlet-size photobook of pictures his mother took on location during the shooting of Ultra Q (1966) and Ultraman. Apparently, this book will be on offer at an upcoming event in Japan, but I'm certainly privileged to have been given my own copy.

Akihide Tsuzawa. Photo by Brett Homenick.

There are a mixture of color and black-and-white photos in the booklet. Some of the photos were originally taken in color, while others were colorized for the pamphlet. 

We hung out for just under two hours and talked about many things, including Tsuzawa-san's interest in Japanese MLB players throughout the years (especially Otani and Nomo), my reaction to Godzilla Minus One (2023), which Tsuzawa-san hasn't seen, his recent trip to Lake Okutama (which I pointed out was a location in 1961's Mothra, which he didn't know), his busy professional life that left him little time to stop and smell the flowers, and many other things. 

Tsuzawa-san told me that his favorite director to work with on Ultraman was Toshihiro Iijima. He also drew a map on a napkin of where Toho was in relation to Tsuburaya Productions. I asked Tsuzawa-san if he watched any of the tokusatsu scenes being shot, but he said he didn't due to how hectic the drama side's shooting schedule was. While shooting took place at Tsuburaya Productions, the dubbing apparently took place at Toho.

Tsuzawa-san also talked about his nostalgia for old American TV shows like Lassie, Rawhide, and Superman. In fact, he wanted to see a photo of the Superman he grew up with, but, when I showed him a photo of George Reeves in costume, he said that wasn't it. So I thought maybe he was thinking of Kirk Alyn, but no dice. It wasn't until I showed him a photo of Reeves with Noel Neill as Lois Lane that it finally clicked.

Of course, we also touched on real-life issues, such as careers, relationships, the cost of health insurance, and other things like that. When it was all said and done, I paid for both our meals. Hey, it was the least I could do!

I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to hang out with Tsuzawa-san so soon after our last meeting in January. During the evening, Tsuzawa-san remembered the first time we met in 2016. All these years later, I'd say that's a tremendous feat. When I pulled out my phone to take Tsuzawa-san's photo, he beat me to the bunch by taking my picture first on his camera. (I won't remind you about what I always say about VIPs and guests who take photos of you.)

What a fun evening! Many thanks to Tsuzawa-san for his kind hospitality!