An Evening with a Toho Screenwriter!

Hiroshi Kashiwabara. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday, March 26, after checking out the Yasuyuki Inoue exhibit, I went to a special event headlined by screenwriter Hiroshi Kashiwabara. The event centered around the hit TV series Abunai Deka, but I'm naturally much more familiar with his Toho work.

Kashiwabara-san is always a friendly gent, and I rarely miss a chance to hang out with him. As usual, we talked about a variety of movie topics, including recent films we had seen. Kashiwabara-san is a true movie buff.

 And that's a wrap. It was a busy Saturday for sure, but I had a lot of fun. But that's not all I did last weekend. Stay tuned for more!

An Evening with an Acclaimed Director!

Toru Murakawa. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday, November 27, I was fortunate to interview director Toru Murakawa about his early work as an assistant director. I learned quite a few interesting things, and, when it's finally published, so will you.

It was a fun but unusual evening, given the late start of the proceedings. But Murakawa-san remain energetic throughout the evening, showing us all that he hasn't slowed down with age.

I was surprised to see the lovely Kanae Hasebe, the daughter of film and television director Yasuharu Hasebe (Horror Theater Unbalance, Spectreman, Assault! Jack the Ripper), there, as well. In terms of tokusatsu, she appears in episodes 18 and 19 of Kamen Rider 555 (2003-04) as Sachiko Kurata, as well as episode 5 of Kamen Rider Kiva (2008-09) as a housewife.

She looked as lovely as ever, and we took this quick snapshot in front of the Christmas decorations. A fun time was had by all, and it was a nice way to close out the month of November.

Attending an 'Abunai Deka' Reunion Event!

Hiroshi Kashiwabara. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday, May 22, I attended a special event (for the first time in a while) featuring a reunion of luminaries from the hit crime drama Abumai Deka (1986-87). This reunion featured scriptwriter Hiroshi Kashiwabara and actress Kanae Hasebe.

With Hiroshi Kashiwabara.

Kashiwabara-san, as most readers of this blog will no doubt remember, wrote the screenplays for Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (1994), Godzilla 2000 (1999), and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000). Please check out this interview for more details about his screenwriting career. I've met him several times over the years, and he's a great guy to hang out with. I love his sense of humor!

Kanae Hasebe. Photo by Brett Homenick.

It was my first time to meet Kanae Hasebe, the daughter of film and television director Yasuharu Hasebe (Horror Theater Unbalance, Spectreman, Assault! Jack the Ripper). She played Hitomi Yamaji on Abunai Deka, as well as on its follow-up series Motto Abunai Deka (1988-89). In terms of tokusatsu, she appears in episodes 18 and 19 of Kamen Rider 555 (2003-04) as Sachiko Kurata, as well as episode 5 of Kamen Rider Kiva (2008-09) as a housewife.

With Kanae Hasebe.

Hasebe-san was interested in my background and asked me a lot of questions. She was intrigued by my interest in Godzilla and tokusatsu, and we discussed Shin Godzilla, as well as the current state of the Japanese film industry. It was lovely to meet her.