Godzilla's Online History Revealed on Vantage Point Interviews!

Photo © Mark Meloon.

The webmaster of the Net's very first Godzilla site, the one and only Mark Meloon, stops by Vantage Point Interviews for a new vintage account! Check it out and learn the history of this Godzilla fandom pioneer!

An Evening with the Director of 'Godzilla 1985's' American Version!

R. J. Kizer poses with a photo of an old friend. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After spending the afternoon with Adryan Russ, I headed over to the Tallyrand restaurant to meet up with director and film editor R. J. Kizer, whom I've interviewed more than once. This was also our first face-to-face meeting. 

When I pulled into the parking lot, I spotted R. J. entering the restaurant. He saw me, as well, and waited for me to park my car. When I walked up to him, he commented that I was taller than he expected. That made me feel like I was back in Japan!

While we ate, R. J. shared quite a few stories about his time at New World Pictures, most of which I'd never heard before. But, because I'd never really spoke to him about anything other than his work on Godzilla '85, that was to be expected. 

The stories were just as often hilarious as they were fascinating. I felt someone could make quite an entertaining movie based on some of R. J.'s experiences. It certainly would be a lot more fun than the recent Jason Reitman flick Saturday Night.

I'm amazed it took us this long to meet in person, given how Godzilla 1985 is one of my favorite films. But I'm overjoyed it was finally happened. After dinner, R. J. gave me directions back to the freeway, which turned out to be spot-on. Many thanks to R. J. for a wonderful evening!

Saving the Earth in L.A.!

Adryan Russ. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Sunday, October 20, I made my out to Los Angeles and had a great time there. The first meeting I had was with Adryan Russ, who performed the iconic "Save the Earth" song for the AIP release of Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971). Even though I interviewed Ms. Russ way back in 2007, this was our first visit in person.

We met at the Lonny Chapman Theatre for a performance of The Orphan's Revenge, which was pretty enjoyable. The melodramatic show encouraged audience participation in the form of booing and hissing the villains and cheering the good guys. I don't think I'll ever forget the name of "Yack" Phillips.

"Save the Earth!" Photo by Brett Homenick.

After the show, we noticed a massive fire close to our vicinity. The smoke happened to be billowing from an area directly behind Joe's Smog Check, which, given the circumstances, was quite a coincidence. It looked like Godzilla and Hedorah were duking it out behind a sign warning the world about smog! If only Yoshimitsu Banno and his camera crew were there, it would have been complete.

It was great to meet Adryan in person and to chat about not just Smog Monster but a variety of other topics. I look forward to meeting up again in the future.

Keizo Murase, Legendary Kaiju Suitmaker, Passes Away at 89

Keizo Murase in October 2020. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Longtime kaiju suitmaker Keizo Murase passed away on October 14 at 8:21 p.m. at the age of 89. According to news reports, the cause of death was decompensated cirrhosis of the liver. 

Keizo Murase poses with an old friend in April 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Murase-san's credits in the word of tokusatsu as a suitmaker are second to none. But I'll let the master himself tell his own story in my interviews with him, which can be read here and here. Those Q&As tell Murase-san's story better than I possibly could in this blog post.

Keizo Murase in March 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

To the best of my knowledge, I first met Murase-san at an event in May 2013. I subsequently met Murase-san in and around Tokyo numerous times and enjoyed interviewing him at his company more than once.

Keizo Murase chats with kaiju beam animator Sadao Iizuka in March 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

While I wasn't as close to him as I was with other Godzilla series alumni (as I recall, we spoke on the phone only once, and I received a New Year's greeting card from his company once or twice), I always enjoyed his friendly presence at the events his attended.

Keizo Murase poses with Ultra-series director Toshihiro Iijima in March 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

When I first interviewed him in April 2018, I remember he essentially showered me with gifts, presenting me with a Cast Co. bromide card set with photos from his career, as well as a copy of his book. It was a gesture I've always remembered and appreciated.

Keizo Murase in March 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After the interview, which was held in Murase-san's workshop way out in Mizuho, Tokyo, I still had to teach a group lesson on the 10th floor of the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building (the same structure Godzilla crashes into after his first encounter with the Super X) that evening. Murase-san, who picked my translator and me from the nearby train station in his car, drove us back to the station when we were finished. Miraculously, I somehow made it to the lesson literally in the nick of time. Had I arrived even a minute later, I would have been late. It still amazes me how perfect the timing was, given the distances (and various modes of transportation) involved. 

Keizo Murase at his workshop in February 2024. Photo by Brett Homenick.

My last encounter with Murase-san was in February of this year, just before I left Japan. I visited his workshop one more time to interview him again about his career. Even after the third interview, I still didn't get to cover all the topics I would have liked, but I was and still am grateful to have had the opportunity. The interview probably won't be published for quite a while (I have a massive backlog), but I look forward to getting it published sometime in the future.

With Keizo Murase in February 2024.

When I visited Murase-san that day, he was riding high on the fact that he had been selected to receive a special award at the Japanese Academy Film Prize on March 8 for his contributions to Japanese cinema. The timing of that award was impeccable, and I'm proud that Murase-san was able to receive such a prestigious accolade in his lifetime.

With Keizo Murase in March 2016.

While we were taking photos after the interview in February, Murase-san grabbed his phone and asked his son to take a picture of the two of us together. I've said it before, but it's always cool when a VIP asks to take a photo with you. 

With Keizo Murase in October 2020.

Murase-san created some of the most fantastic images of my childhood, and it was my privilege that I was able to spend some precious moments in his company. Rest in peace, Murase-san. 

'Howl's Moving Castle'

Fathom Events' Studio Ghibli Fest 2024. Photo by Brett Homenick.

"This is Operation: [Howl's Moving Castle]." -- Don Frye, Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

I'm sure I've mentioned it here before, but I've never been a fan of Studio Ghibli. I suppose it would be a bit more accurate to say that I've never been into anime in general. It's just never been my thing, though I guess I can see why others would be into it. Under other circumstances, I might have become a fan myself.

To the best of my knowledge, the only Ghibli film I'd seen before tonight was My Neighbor Totoro (1988), which was shown on video in one of my classes back in the day. Honestly, I can't remember if we even finished the thing, but that (more or less) had been my only exposure to Ghibli.

While going to the movies a month or two ago, I noticed the above advertisement promoting something called Studio Ghibli Fest. One title in particular stood out to me -- Howl's Moving Castle (2004). Pretty much every Ghibli fan I've spoken to has essentially the same opinion: It's just not that good. So you may be wondering why that, of all the movies being screened, would catch my attention.

In early 2005, I read in a Godzilla fanzine that Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) got its clock cleaned at the Japanese box office by Howl's Moving Castle. I knew absolutely nothing about that film and hadn't even heard of it until then. But, in that moment, the two movies became inextricably intertwined in my mind.

Howl's movin' and groovin'. Photo by Brett Homenick.

So that brings me to tonight when I caught a screening of Howl's Moving Castle at the nearby multiplex. The version I saw was the English dub with Christian Bale as Howl, by the way.

What did I think? Well, not much, I'm afraid. I have to agree with the folks who've told me over the years that the movie isn't very good. There are no memorable characters, the story and set pieces are all off-the-rack, and the climax was downright dull. What am I saying? The whole movie was dull. I was bored to distraction throughout.

The image of the moving castle itself was pretty impressive, but that's the only positive thing I have to say about it. Otherwise, I was indifferent to the thing. If I'm being honest, I just don't think Ghibli's animation quality lives up to the hype. That's not to say that it's bad or even mediocre, just that it doesn't measure up to the endless praise I read online -- in my humble opinion, anyway.

Here's a quote for the poster: "Better than Howl's Moving Castle!"

It's rather interesting to read the drubbing that Francis Ford Coppola's latest opus, Megalopolis (2024) is receiving from critics and audiences. I saw the film last night and thought it was pretty good -- not great, but certainly not the unmitigated disaster some are trying to make it out to be. Watching the two films back to back, I can safely say that Megalopolis is much much satisfying. 

Suffice it to say, that itch has been scratched, and I can put Howl's Moving Castle away and (in all likelihood) never think about it again. It's too bad Japanese audiences went with the wrong film in late 2004, but it's not like we can do anything about that now.

Come to think of it, how about Don Frye as the voice of Howl? Now that's some inspired casting!

'Green Slime' Actor Jack Morris Passes Away at Age 84

Jack Morris (right) poses with Robert Horton. Photo courtesy of Jack Morris. The Green Slime © 1968, Toei Co., Ltd.

According to a longtime friend of the actor, Jack Morris, who appeared as Lt. Morris in the made-in-Japan cult classic The Green Slime (1968), passed away last night, September 20. He was 84.

John Robert Morris was born on April 29, 1940, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Mr. Morris moved to Japan in 1967 and eventually returned to Canada in 1972. Mr. Morris spoke extensively about his memories making The Green Slime in my 2021 interview with him, which you can find here.

He is survived by his wife Kyoko, as well as his children James, John, and Mika. 

Rest in peace to a friendly gentleman. Sincere condolences to Mr. Morris' family and friends.

DEEP DIVE: Did a Real-Life Scarface Appear in a Toho Tokusatsu Feature?

William Tapia as Commander Webb in Sayonara Jupiter. Sayonara Jupiter © 1984, Toho Co., Ltd. 

In all the years I've researched the personalities involved with various tokusatsu works, I've never encountered a case as strange and unusual as that of William Manuel Tapia Alemán. William Tapia appears as Webb, chairman of the Solar System Development Organization (SSDO) in the Toho science-fiction epic Sayonara Jupiter (1984). He is also credited as "Capitan" in Shohei Imamura's Why Not? (1981).

However, what sets him apart from all the other foreigners who starred in Japanese SFX films is his dramatic fall from grace, as well as his meteoric rise back to prominence after the dust had settled. It's a story with a lot of twists and turns, but let's get started.

On July 18, 1990, The New York Times published this story, which broke the news to most folks around the world:

A Nicaraguan diplomat in Tokyo was arrested there yesterday on United States charges that he took part in a plot to smuggle millions of dollars of heroin into New York City.

Federal officials in New York announced the arrest of William Tapia, who was the counselor of the Nicaraguan Embassy in Tokyo. He was arrested by the Japanese authorities, acting on a request from Washington.

Mr. Tapia was dismissed from his diplomatic post just before being arrested on charges of arranging for another diplomat to smuggle 125 pounds of heroin from Thailand to New York in 1987. The heroin was said to have a street value of at least $18 million.

Sayonara Jupiter © 1984, Toho Co., Ltd.

A few months later, in October, United Press International (UPI) followed up on it with even more details:

A former Nicaraguan diplomat, described as 'almost a godfather' in the diplomatic community in the Far East, was arraigned Monday on charges he recruited fellow diplomats to smuggle heroin into the United States and Australia.

William Tapia, 47, who has lived in Tokyo for 14 years -- most as a diplomat, and most recently as the second-in-command to the Nicaraguan ambassador there -- was charged in U.S. District Court on seven counts of heroin trafficking.

The counts were contained in an indictment unsealed last July. Tapia was arrested July 17 in Tokyo, and has been held there until his extradition to New York on Friday.

The ex-diplomat pleaded not guilty, and a bail hearing was set for Thursday. He was remanded to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan until that time.

The indictment charged that Tapia on two separate occasions between April and November 1987 arranged for a Guatemalan diplomat to smuggle about 125 pounds of heroin from Thailand to New York.

The estimated street value of the 'China White' heroin was about $18 million to $21 million.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cathy Palmer, who is prosecuting the case, said Tapia used his considerable influence in the diplomatic community to recruit 'carriers' of heroin into both the United States and Australia.

'He became almost a godfather in the community,' said Palmer, 'somebody whose advice was often sought.'

Tapia has a Japanese wife and speaks fluent Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and English, she noted.

The way the transportation of the drug would work, Palmer said, is that Chinese heroin marketers would arrange for the drug to be delivered to the diplomats -- who could earn a fee of as much as $400,000 for a load of 40 kilograms simply for taking the drug through customs with their own luggage.

Because of their diplomatic status, the officials were rarely challenged for inspections. 'It was a guaranteed way' to get the drug through customs, Palmer said.

'It isn't subject to challenge.'

Tapia, prosecutors charged, himself carried a load of heroin into Australia using the method.

The usual load for a diplomat to carry would be between 31 to 34 kilograms, or 62 to 70 pounds, Palmer said.

One Guatemalan diplomat, Jorge Rueda, who transported the heroin into New York in April and October 1987 for Tapia was arrested by the Australian National Crime Authority in April 1988 on heroin importation charges, and was subsequently convicted.

He is expected to testify against Tapia, Palmer said, and is cooperating in the case. Other arrests of diplomats involved in the scam are expected, Palmer said.

If convicted on all seven counts of the federal indictment, Tapia faces a possible life term in jail and fines up to $4 million. 

Chairman Webb contemplates whether or not to plead guilty. Sayonara Jupiter © 1984, Toho Co., Ltd. 

About a year later, on September 11, 1991, The New York Times reported on Tapia's guilty plea:

A former Nicaraguan diplomat pleaded guilty in Brooklyn yesterday to Federal charges of aiding and abetting the importing of heroin, according to Federal authorities.

The defendant, William Tapia, was arrested last year in Tokyo, where he was the counselor of the Nicaraguan Embassy. Mr. Tapia was dismissed from his diplomatic post after Japanese authorities arrested him at the request of the United States. He was charged with taking part in a 1987 scheme to smuggle 125 pounds of heroin from Thailand to New York City.

Judge Eugene H. Nickerson accepted Mr. Tapia's guilty plea in a closed courtroom in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. The judge declined to say why he excluded the public and reporters from the courtroom.

The guilty plea was confirmed by Ann Driscoll, public information officer for United States Attorney Andrew J. Maloney. She said Mr. Tapia, who has been held in custody since his arrest, faced a sentence of 5 to 40 years in prison.

Two months after Tapia entered his guilty plea, future FBI director Robert S. Mueller, then assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, gave a statement on November 6 before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Governmental Affairs, regarding Asian organized crime. According to his prepared remarks, Mueller testified:

In early 1990, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York obtained an indictment in Brooklyn on heroin trafficking charges against William Tapia, a senior Nicaraguan diplomat assigned to the Nicaraguan Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, in United States v. William Tapia. Tapia was accused of recruiting and using other diplomats to smuggle large quantities of heroin from Asia into the United States. On July 17, 1990, immediately after the Government of Nicaragua removed Tapia from his diplomatic post, the Japanese Government executed a U.S. request for his provisional arrest pursuant to the U.S.-Japan Extradition Treaty. Tapia was successfully extradited to the United States in October 1990, and on September 10, 1991, he pleaded guilty to a heroin importation charge. Tapia faces between 5 and 40 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $2 million. 

This important blow against the abuse of diplomatic status in furtherance of narcotics trafficking could not have been delivered absent the outstanding cooperation of Japanese law enforcement authorities. In addition, the United States received significant cooperation in this case from Hong Kong and Australia.

So, as you can see, the Bush Justice Department was riding high on the fact that it was cracking down on Sayonara Jupiter cast members. But was all as it seemed? Well, this is where stories in the American press begin to fade, and we have to turn to Nicaraguan media to pick up the slack. 

Before we proceed, you should probably bear in mind that, according to many estimates, Nicaragua is one of the least democratic countries in Latin America, so it might be best to take some of these local news reports with a grain of salt. With that in mind, let's proceed.

Sayonara Jupiter © 1984, Toho Co., Ltd.

On February 26, 2008, the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa published an exhaustive story about Tapia and his legal woes. Excerpts are contained below and have been translated into English using machine translations: 

Tapia Alemán was arrested in Tokyo on July 17, 1990 by the United States Government, accused of trafficking drugs from Thailand to New York and working with a Hong Kong mafia syndicate that recruited other diplomats for drug trafficking.

The Japanese mafia allegedly took advantage of the officials' immunity and the fact that they were exempt from having their personnel checked, in which they were estimated to be carrying an average of 28 to 32 kilograms of heroin.

The story continues:

News reports at the time said the charge was being pushed by the DEA, with support from other anti-narcotics departments in Australia, Hong Kong and the United Nations.

The news of Tapia Alemán's capture became known ten days later, making the front pages of the national newspapers of the time.

In October 1990, Japan agreed to extradite Tapia to the United States. The then foreign minister of the republic, Enrique Dreyfus, told the media that "both the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry and the Japanese government have conclusive evidence of Tapia's participation in international drug trafficking," but that this evidence was not revealed so as not to affect the progress of the trial.

Furthermore:

The reports revealed that the US and Japanese authorities had been following Tapia since 1986, when it was suspected that he brought drugs to New York on behalf of the Japanese mafia cartel.

In addition, in 1988, a Guatemalan diplomat identified as Jorge Rueda was arrested in Australia and sentenced to sixteen years in prison for drug trafficking, and his defense declared that Tapia Alemán was his "contact."

While in prison, Tapia told the media that he suspected someone had stolen his passport to travel, because he had not left Japan on the date he was accused of.

In addition:

However, the next note of the case appears a year later, in September 1992, in the newspaper Barricada, according to which Tapia was declared innocent and would be released in ten months to return to Masatepe, his hometown, or to Japan, where he He had married Hisako Susuki [sic] and had two daughters.

Additionally:

Tapia Alemán arrived in Japan as cultural attaché at the Nicaraguan Embassy in 1968, during the government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. He resigned in 1979, but returned to the Embassy in 1986, serving as first secretary of the Embassy, a position he held before being stripped of his immunity and arrested. 

A January 28, 2021, story from the same newspaper covers much of the same ground, including this tidbit:

In 2000, Tapia was a candidate for mayor of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in Masatepe, but his diplomatic career in Japan was what his opponents used to make him lose.

You may be wondering why the Nicaraguan press was digging into a story from the late 1980s and early '90s in the year 2008 and beyond. That's because he had been appointed ambassador to Taiwan on November 21, 2007. Yes, that's right; after all that legal turmoil, which included a guilty plea, he became the country's official ambassador to Taiwan.

It seems that his previous legal troubles weren't much of an issue for his appointment. The same story reports:

Since the weekend, LA PRENSA has tried to obtain a version of events from the Foreign Minister, Samuel Santos, but it was impossible to locate him through his cell phone or the Press Office, which handles requests.

Foreign Ministry representative Vilma Aburto said she would try to obtain an official version from the foreign minister, but that he would be in a meeting "all day."

However, he said that when Tapia Alemán was appointed, Santos was consulted on the matter, but he said that he "was an excellent person, that he had not received any (bad) references (from Tapia) and that the Government (of China Taiwan) did not deny the approval."

William Tapia, circa 2016. Photo © Contact Taiwan.

According to this July 23, 2020, article in Confidencial, Tapia was removed from his post as ambassador after holding the post for roughly 13 years, though it is unclear why. Taiwan News Formosa TV suggests that it might have been because Tapia was too pro-Taiwan and that the Nicaraguan regime was looking for a change in policy.

  

William Tapia can be seen in this Contact Taiwan video below during his time as Nicaragua's ambassador to Taiwan:

So what do you think? Is this a real-life Scarface, or was he simply a victim of the machinations of the yakuza? In either case, it's fascinating to know that one of the main cast members of Sayonara Jupiter has led such a life. After reading all this, who would dare say the movie is boring?!

That Time Sonny Chiba and Chris Jericho Traded Blows!

I don't think a day goes by when I don't watch something pro wrestling-related on YouTube. My interest in '90s wrestling and tokusatsu rarely intersect, but this is one such occasion where they actually (and surprisingly) do. 

While watching this Chris Jericho shoot interview about working with Mickey Rourke just after The Wrestler (2008) was released, Jericho brings up working with fellow squared-circle legend "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and shares an anecdote about working with Piper on a film as an extra before Jericho hit it big in the wrestling business.

The story has little to do with Piper and is actually about Piper's co-star in that film, none other than Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba.

At the 9:48 mark in the above video, Jericho states:

I did a movie with him [Roddy Piper] in Mexico City in '93 called Immortal Combat -- not "Mortal," "Immortal"! If you pause at the right moment, you'll see me. I was getting the shit kicked out of me by this Japanese karate guy called Sonny Chiba, who was about 65 at the time. And, on the tenth take, he was literally just kicking me right in the face.

I watched and enjoyed Jericho's mid-to-late-'90s WCW run and (if I'm being honest) paid little attention to his WWF/WWE work. But I had no idea that he'd ever worked with Sonny Chiba on film, which is why I wanted to point it out in this blog post. 

I wonder if Sonny Chiba kicked harder than Ralphus.

A New Q&A on Vantage Point Interviews!

Takeshi Miyanishi in May 2022. Photo by Brett Homenick.

 

Check out the latest vintage account on Vantage Point Interviews with compositor and optical-effects technician Takeshi Miyanishi. Mr. Miyanishi began working at Toho with Gorath (1962) on the tokusatsu side. 

While his memories of the early days are no longer as strong as they once were, he has vivid memories of working with Akira Kurosawa on Kagemusha (1980) and working on Pulgasari (1985) in North Korea. 

It's all right there on Vantage Point Interviews. Don't miss it -- be there!

Gina Gershon and the Godzilla Series

In the latest edition of Criterion's "Closet Picks" series, actress Gina Gershon (Showgirls, Bound, The Insider) makes her selections, and at about the 2:35 mark in the video above Ms. Gershon chooses Criterion's Showa-era Godzilla Blu-ray set and offers the following comments:

I saw this, and I freaked out because I love Godzilla; I do. I'm just gonna say it -- I love Godzilla. [holds up the Showa Godzilla Blu-ray set] Look at this. Now these have all the originals, right? This is one of the greatest scores of all time, I think. It's one of my favorite scores -- you know, dun dun duuunnn . . . [does the Godzilla theme]

When I have to get going in the morning, I listen to the theme of Godzilla [laughs], and I love this. Thank you so much. [looks at the Blu-ray set cover] This is a great graphic. Whoever did this, you're a genius.

It's pretty fun to think that Gina Gershon has a Blu-ray of Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) at home, but at this point I'm sure a lot more people than you'd expect do, too.

Actor Makoto Akatsuka, Who Appeared in the Ultraman and Kamen Rider Series, Passes Away at Age 73

Makoto Akatsuka in November 2022. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Film and television actor Makoto Akatsuka passed away on July 4 at a hospital in Ibaraki Prefecture of esophageal cancer. He was 73.

Mr. Akatsuka, who was born on March 19, 1951, began his professional film career in 1967 with Toho, playing youthful character in a variety of productions. He plays Sangoro in the film Double Suicide (1969), Mamoru Watanabe in Wet Sand in August (1971), Chuji Saito in Yoji Yamada's The Village (1975), the grandson in the Tora-san film Tora's Pure Love (1976), a chimpira in The Yellow Handkerchief (1977), Otomatsu Kawase in Nomugi Pass (1979), Makoto in Tora-san Goes North (1987), a policeman in Tora-san Makes Excuses (1992), and Yazaki in the Oscar-nominated The Twilight Samurai (2002).

On television, he appears uncredited in episode 12 of Ultraman Ace (1972-73), episode 11 of Jekyll and Hyde (1973) as a toy factory worker, Fight! Dragon (1974) as Kojiro Musashi, the all-star TV movie Tokyo Earthquake Magnitude 8.1 (1980) as Hiroshi Sakaki, episode 28 of Kamen Rider Black (1987-88) as Tsunekichi Koyama, and Kamen Rider Black RX (1988-89) as the recurring character Shunkichi Sahara.

I met Mr. Akatsuka only once in November 2022. It was after a stage performance in Daikanyama, Tokyo. I approached him after the show to introduce myself and mentioned my interest in tokusatsu productions, specifically mentioning Ultraman Ace. He was very kind, and I enjoyed meeting him.

His acting resume was impressive enough that I did consider reaching out to him for an interview, but, given his recent health issues, it probably wasn't very likely, anyway. I'm sure he had many fascinating stories to tell.

Rest in peace, Mr. Akatsuka.

SAYONARA TILL WE MEET AGAIN! A Star Sister Comments on Her History with Godzilla!

Photo © Yvonne Keeley Paay.

One of the most unusual (and unexpected) aspects of The Return of Godzilla (a.k.a. the Japanese version of Godzilla 1985) is its inclusion of the pop song "Godzilla: Love Theme" during the film's closing credits. The song can be heard here:

The love theme was performed by The Star Sisters, a Netherlands-based trio of pop singers who began to achieve international fame in the early 1980s. 

A few years ago, I reached out to one of The Star Sisters, Yvonne Keeley Paay, regarding a possible interview about her involvement with "Godzilla: Love Theme" and Toho in general. On May 16, 2020, I received this reply from Ms. Paay (which has been edited for clarity and is quoted with permission):

There is not a lot to tell. We were asked to sing the track. The tape was sent to Holland. We had the same producer, Jaap Eggermont, who had done our album. We sang it, and it was sent back to Japan. I think it did something in the chart, but I'm not sure. We were invited to come over, but our schedule was so full at the time that we didn't have the time to go to Tokyo for 2 days! I'm glad it is available on YouTube. It's a rare recording.

Years went by, and I decided to reach out again to see if we could do a full-length interview on the topic. Ms. Paay responded on June 28 and reiterated that there just isn't much to say about the process but did add this bit of information (which is also quoted with permission):

It was [number] 1 on the chart I think for one week in Japan, and we didn't have the time to go there.

And there you have it. 

Hong Kong Voice Actor Ted Thomas on 'Hawaii Five-O'

Ted Thomas on Hawaii Five-O.

While most of us Asian film fans know Ted Thomas as the voice of Bruce Lee and Godzilla, more people have actually seen the legendary Hong Kong voice actor on Hawaii Five-O season 9 episode 1 ("Nine Dragons") as a film lab employee visited by Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) and Danny Williams (James MacArthur). 

Ted Thomas (center) with series star Jack Lord (right).

The feature-length season premiere, which aired on September 30, 1976, largely takes place in Hong Kong where Det. McGarrett does battle with his archnemesis Wo Fat. 

Ted Thomas' appearance on the show lasts just over a minute, and he's only in one scene. But it was a lot of fun discovering his cameo by accident. It's amazing who turns up when you watch old TV shows!

UPDATE (6/19): Voice actor Peter Boczar adds this interesting tidbit:

It also appears to be shot in one of the dubbing studios we used.

Simon Pegg, Cultural Appropriation, and Godzilla

"Thanks, Hollywood!" sez the Hotel Gracery's Godzilla head in April 2015. Photo by Brett Homenick.

If you're reading this, then you're more than likely aware of the recent brouhaha surrounding Simon Pegg and his recent comments regarding Godzilla Minus One (2023), the American-produced MonsterVerse movies, and cultural appropriation. Of course, this isn't a political blog, and it's going to stay that way, but I can't address this topic without reflecting a bit on that particular social issue. However, the thrust of this blog post is a response to certain folks who seemingly know nothing about Japan or Godzilla yet feel compelled to speak on their behalf.

Before we begin, I just have to ask: Should we consider that Toho itself has made King Kong, Frankenstein, and Hammer-inspired vampire movies? Would these be examples of cultural appropriation? If not, why not? Should writer-director Kazuki Omori get publicly chided for introducing elements borrowed from Hollywood blockbusters into the Godzilla series? More to the point, how about that recent Godzilla flick that ripped off Steven Spielberg movies so shamelessly that the director of said flick thought that Spielberg would get angry with him over it? Where's the outrage? Why hasn't anyone called in the Twitter Mob yet?

I lived in Japan for 13 years and in Tokyo proper for 10. During that time, I talked to a lot of Japanese people -- both in and out of the film industry -- and became quite familiar with their way of thinking. I also personally saw the dramatic change that the Godzilla franchise underwent in Japan as it happened in real time in the mid-2010s. But let's circle back to the beginning.

When I first moved to Japan in 2011, Godzilla was nowhere to be found. Unless you knew what collectible shops happened to carry Godzilla items, or you knew which promoters or organizations hosted tokusatsu-themed events for die-hard fans, you were about as likely to find something Godzilla-related in Japan as you are to walk down Hollywood Boulevard today and find a whole bunch of Night Gallery memorabilia. 

But one incident in particular changed all that for good -- the release of Legendary Pictures' Godzilla in 2014. Say what you will about that film -- and I have very little positive to say about it -- but it put Godzilla back on the map as an international property that could draw hundreds of millions of dollars at the worldwide box office and even earn a bit of critical praise along the way. (It also had the added benefit of giving a hungry Bryan Cranston enough scenery to chew to satiate his appetite until his Oscar-nominated performance in Trumbo the following year.)

In the wake of the film's release, Godzilla suddenly became a priority for Toho again -- a new, massive Godzilla mural was painted on the side of a studio wall, the Godzilla head was erected in the terrace of Shinjuku's recently-opened Hotel Gracery, and more Godzilla-related events and exhibitions started to pop up all over the place. Shin Godzilla (2016), a big-budget, homegrown Godzilla outing, was also released. The Godzilla Store opened its doors shortly thereafter. None of this existed, or was even thought possible, before 2014.

The ongoing success of the international franchise ensured that Takashi Yamazaki could make his VFX-laden Godzilla the Ride short film and -- yes, you guessed it -- Godzilla Minus One. If the MonsterVerse films were examples of cultural appropriation, Toho certainly wasn't seeing any downside.

If it isn't clear yet, I should point out that Godzilla as a character and franchise had zero cultural relevance in Japan by the time I'd arrived in the country. (Of course, I'd been hearing the same from others who'd traveled or lived in Japan since at least the early 2000s, but for our purposes I'll stick to what I saw firsthand.) 

TV-oriented tokusatsu franchises like Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and Ultraman were all the rage with children, and Godzilla simply didn't exist for them. Adults too paid little attention to the King of the Monsters, with only the hardcore otaku types turning out for events or buying any merchandise. Is it even possible to "appropriate" that which is culturally irrelevant?

OK, now I have to ask a fairly obvious question to anyone who is complaining about the alleged cultural appropriation here: Have you talked to a Japanese person? 

Chances are you haven't, but I have, and you might be surprised how they feel. To illustrate this point, let's switch from Godzilla to Japan's other cinematic heavyweight -- Akira Kurosawa. When I was teaching in Japan, one of my students was named Takashi (though he didn't carry a plastic toy with him everywhere he went). He was a businessman fluent in English who also often worked with Japan's national government on a variety of projects. I enjoyed speaking with him and getting his perspective on a myriad of topics. 

In 2019, we were talking about movies, and I decided to show him what the BBC had recently named as the best foreign-language film of all time, thinking he would get a kick out of it or perhaps even feel a bit of pride. When he saw Seven Samurai (1954) listed in the top spot, his reaction was (as close as I can come to an exact quote all these years later), "What?! But they're not even elite samurai!"

Despite what you may think, that's not surprising for a culture in which even Toshiro Mifune, often hailed as Japan's greatest actor (by those outside Japan), is largely forgotten (while Mifune's contemporaries Ken Takakura and Kiyoshi Atsumi still enjoy a modicum of cultural relevance). Maybe Hollywood ought to step in and make a Mifune biopic in order to bring him back to worldwide prominence, but, after reading all this nonsense about the MonsterVerse, I think we know how that would go down.

Western interpretations of Japanese cinema can be a lot of fun to read, and they can add new perspectives to movies that the filmmakers likely never even considered. But it's probably fair to say that Godzilla is still more culturally relevant in America even today than it is in Japan (which was certainly true prior to 2015). If you're relying on Western interpretations by Americans who only know Japan through the movies to explain how the Japanese relate to anything, you're missing some much-needed context.

A day or so before Shin Godzilla came out, I happened to walk past a group of businessmen at a restaurant who were talking (and laughing!) about the film's upcoming release. After it came out, an adolescent student of mine, who enjoyed the film, told me he liked seeing the familiar Tokyo locations in the context of a monster movie. Takashi, whom I mentioned above, also liked Shin but mostly as a criticism of the bureaucratic nature of the national government, which was a topic in which he was particularly interested. These are just a few anecdotes, but you'll note the lack of World War II symbolism. Honestly, I never encountered a single Japanese person who related to Godzilla as anything other than a movie monster. (But that's Western over-analysis of Godzilla '54 for you.)

Overall, I think it's great for people to be influenced by other cultures. Japan has loved Hollywood movies for decades, so good luck trying to get Japanese filmmakers not to be inspired by American movies. I have no idea where the notion that cultures must remain completely separate from each other came from, but let's help it find its way to the nearest circular file where it belongs.

Just to be clear, I'm not "calling out" anyone in particular. While Pegg's MonsterVerse comments were the driving force that motivated me to write this post, it can apply just as easily to anyone who buys up every Criterion release of a Japanese movie and therefore thinks he/she is an expert on all things Japanese. Sometimes it helps to know the things you don't know.

Director Alex Cox Announces His Last Film

Photo © Alex Cox.

Film director Alex Cox, the brains behind the '80s classics Repo Man (1984), Sid and Nancy (1986), and Walker (1987), has launched a crowdfunding effort in order to finance what the director has described as his "last hurrah."

The movie in question will be an adaptation of Dead Souls. What is Dead Souls, you ask? Here's Alex Cox himself to fill you in:

My "last movie" is a Western version of Nicolai Gogol's "Dead Souls". This is a great book, full of irony, mystery and meaning. I plan to shoot in two locations – Almería, Spain, and Tucson, Arizona. 

More details are contained on the project's Kickstarter page, so, if you're intrigued by the premise and/or are interested in being a part of film history, check it out and send some support his way.  

Readers of this blog ought to know that Alex Cox is a genuine fan of Japanese cinema and has even made a documentary about Akira Kurosawa. A few years ago, I interviewed Mr. Cox about that documentary (as well as 2017's Tombstone Rashomon, his Kurosawa-inspired Western). 

I look forward to seeing Dead Souls once it's finished. If you have a few bucks to spare, please consider making a pledge to Alex Cox's swan song.

Actress Yoshiko Kuga, Wife of Akihiko Hirata, Passes Away at 93

Yoshiko Kuga, wife of Toho actor Akihiko Hirata, passed away due to aspiration pneumonia on June 9 at the age of 93. She herself would go on to appear in the Godzilla series after her husband passed away, playing the chief cabinet secretary in Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989).

On November 4, 1979, my friend Keiko was fortunate enough to meet both Akihiko Hirata and Yoshiko Kuga at a signing event at a shopping mall. Ms. Kuga's signature is on the left, and Mr. Hirata's is on the right. Suffice it to say, it's an incredible keepsake.

RIP, Ms. Kuga.

Monsterpalooza 2024

With Megumi Odaka.

On Sunday, June 2, I attended the last day of the L.A.-area convention Monsterpalooza. The main draw for me was to visit Heisei Godzilla series star Megumi Odaka (who played Miki Saegusa in six consecutive films), but I was curious to see what other surprises I might be able to find.

My friend Jacob flew in from Kansas for the event, too, so we roomed together not far from the convention center. We walked around a bit and even did a bit of shopping (we found a dealer who was selling back issues of Filmfax magazine for $2, as well as DVDs for $5 and Blu-rays for $10) before heading over to Megumi Odaka's table.

While Jacob and I were hanging out near her table, Odaka-san's husband Akihiro-san came out from behind the table to greet me and brought me over to see Odaka-san. After that, Odaka-san spoke about the things she'd been doing in L.A. (such as seeing a Dodgers game) and talking about her interactions with the fans. She said she could pick up on some of the English words they would use and then would do her best to respond in English.  

Michael Myers politely waits in line to use the ATM. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I picked out a photo from Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) for her to sign, about which she pointed out that she was 17 years old at the time. We then posed for the above pics.

Discussing Blu-rizzles with WetMovie1.

While Jacob and I were waiting in line at the ATM (where we spied Michael Myers just ahead of us), I noticed YouTuber WetMovie1 hanging out just outside the convention center.

I actually started watching his videos when I was living in Japan circa 2013, and, while I haven't been following his channel in the last couple of years, I certainly had fun watching him "hoard up" (his words, not mine) on DVDs and Blu-rizzles (his word, not mine, though I have since used it more than once).

We had a quick chat during which I told him about watching his videos in Japan. After returning home, I've watched a few of his more recent videos, and they're a lot of fun, too!

Jacob, Scott, and yours truly.

By happenstance, I ran into a fellow Godzilla fan named Scott, whom I used to see on the convention circuit prior to moving to Japan. Scott, Jacob, and I spent quite a bit of time catching up on things and swapping stories. As it's been said before, hanging out is what it's all about.

Yours truly with a lovely orchid.

While we were chatting, I noticed Akihiro-san passing by, so I greeted him as he was making his way to the next room. Naturally, Odaka-san followed closely behind him, and she greeted me, too.

She was carrying a potted orchid, said it was a present, and gave it to me. Suffice it to say, I was quite flattered, and I ended up carrying the orchid with me for the rest of the convention. (I still have it, by the way.)

"Isn't it rich? Are we a pair?"

Later on, Jacob and I returned to Odaka-san's table for another round of autographs. This time, I purchased a card set and had her sign the photo of her on the Princess from the Moon (1987) set in costume as Akeno. It's a cool keepsake.

With Donal Logue (center).

The only other guest we met was totally unexpected. Jacob wanted to meet Donal Logue due to his work on the Gotham (2014-19) TV series. I must confess that I didn't recognize his name, so Jacob pulled up his filmography on his phone. 

When I realized that he played Ken Narlow in Zodiac (2007), I immediately wanted to meet him, too. (Zodiac is one of my favorite movies, and Ken Narlow is one of the many memorable characters in the film.)

We were extremely lucky that Donal Logue turned out to be a cool, down-to-earth guy who was happy to talk shop with us. He shared a great story about the filming of the scene in Riverside in which Mark Ruffalo confronts Robert Downey Jr. and the insane number of takes director David Fincher insisted on doing.

It wasn't until after we left his table that I remembered his character's advice to Jake Gyllenhaal ("Get creative") was something I adopted as a mantra when I lived in Japan and needed to problem-solve in order to achieve my goals. How cool is that? 

I had way more fun at Monsterpalooza than I expected. It was great to see some old friends and meet some great new people. Let's do it again!