A Very Toei Evening!

Sayoko Hagiwara. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Right ater work, I headed for Shimo-kitazawa to catch a play featuring two Toei actors: Shinzo Hotta and Sayoko Hagiwara, both of whom I've written about on this blog in the past.

 Shinzo Hotta. Photo by Brett Homenick.

When I entered the venue, I was surprised to see Shinzo Hotta hanging out in the lobby area. That's because I arrived about an hour after the production had started! He seemed to recognize me and then approached me, although he couldn't quite where he remembered me from. When I mentioned the event we last met, he remembered who I was.

As a refresher, Hotta-san's acting roles date back to the mid-1960s at Toei Studios. Among many others, his credits include: Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972), Iron King (1972-73), Ninja Captor (1976-77), and Message from Space: Galactic Wars (1978-79).

Despite having blogged about Sayoko Hagiwara countless times here, I might as well put in a reminder about her, too. Hagiwara-san essayed the role of Ryoko Hoshi, Yullian's human form, on Ultraman 80 (1980-81) from episode 43, as well as Dyna Pink in Dynaman. She also appeared on Flashman as the villain Leh Nafel.

Toei Heroes to the Rescue!

Hiroyuki Takano. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Tonight, immediately after work, I made my way to Shinjuku to see a stage play starring two Toei (and even Tsuburaya Pro!) actors -- Hiroyuki Takano and Sayoko Hagiwara. These two names ought to be rather familiar by now, as I've blogged about both multiple times.

Takano-san can be seen in Ultra Seven (1967-68), Fight! Mighty Jack (1968), Operation: Mystery (1968-69), Spectreman (1971-72), Return of Ultraman (1971-72), Kamen Rider (1971-73), Silver Mask (1971-72), and Submersion of Japan (1974-75). However, his most notable role was co-starring in the Toei superhero series Barom-1 (1972) as Kentaro Shiratori.

Sayoko Hagiwara. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Sayoko Hagiwara, who played the role of Ryoko Hoshi, Yullian's human form, on Ultraman 80 (1980-81) from episode 43, as well as Dyna Pink on Kagaku Sentai Dynaman (1983-84). She also appeared on Choushinsei Flashman (1986-87) as the villainous Leh Nafel.

I arrived rather late (due to work), so I was only able to catch the last 30 minutes or so of the play. It didn't bother me so much, as the reason I came was to visit Takano-san and Hagiwara-san, anyway. After the show, I spotted several friendly faces in the audience, and suffice it to say, it was great to see so many great people in one spot.

A great time was had by all.

Toei Heroes Back in Action!

Daisuke Ban. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Thursday, August 29, I attended a play in Shimo-kitazawa starring two legendary TV heroes: Daisuke Ban and Sayoko Hagiwara. Well, to say "starring" is a bit of an exaggeration. Actually, they had extended cameos. The bulk of the show featured actors I was completely unfamiliar with.

Anyway, on to the stars. Ban-san starred in Kikaider (1972-73) and Inazuman (1974). Ban-san went on to play Battle Cossack in Battle Fever J (1979-80). I've met him a few times in the past -- most notably in Los Angeles in 2010. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ban-san remembered me from that meeting.

With Sayoko Hagiwara.

Also on hand was Sayoko Hagiwara. Hagiwara-san played Ryoko Hoshi, Yullian's human form, on Ultraman 80 (1980-81) from episode 43, as well as Dyna Pink on Kagaku Sentai Dynaman (1983-84). She also appears on Choushinsei Flashman (1986-87) as the villain Leh Nafel.

The show itself wasn't that amusing, but getting a chance to see Hagiwara-san and Ban-san made it all worth it.

An Evening with Tsuburaya Productions Alumni!

In between actor Koji Shimizu (left) and cinematographer Masao Nakabori. 

Earlier this evening, I attended a special celebration of the late director Akio Jissoji, whose work spanned everything from the Ultra-series to the big-budget fantasy Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis (1988).

Masao Nakabori. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Masao Nakabori is a noted cameraman whose career dates back to the glory days of Tsuburaya Productions, including Ultra Seven (1967-68) and Ultraman Taro (1973-74). His other credits include Silver Kamen (1971-72), Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis, Ultra Q: The Movie (1990), and Hirokazu Koreeda's Maborosi (1995).

Nakabori-san is a true genre legend, and I was privileged to meet him. I was pleased to find that he was approachable and eager to talk about his work. I was particularly interested in hearing about his commercial work with Akio Jissoji on Nikka from the Barrel commercials.

Koji Shimizu. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Also on hand was Koji Shimizu. Shimizu-san played the villainous Mushitaro Kuri in episode 4 of Ultraman Ace (1972-73), one of my favorite episodes of any of the Ultra-series. He also played Katsusuke Atobe in Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha (1980) and Isao Akiba in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003). On TV, he was a regular on the Super Sentai series Choushinsei Flashman (1986-87), portraying the evil Great Doctor Lie Köpflen.

I spent much more of the evening in Nakabori-san's company, but I certainly enjoyed my encounter with Shimizu-san. I first saw his guest appearance on Ultraman Ace in 2005, and it's a performance I've always remembered. I'm glad to have had a chance to tell Shimizu-san how much I enjoyed it.

MEETING SAYOKO HAGIWARA! An Actress Whose Career Includes Ultraman and Super Sentai!

Yours truly with actress Sayoko Hagiwara.

Today I attended a special event in Tokyo and was able to meet actress Sayoko Hagiwara.

Hagiwara-san played Yullian in Ultraman 80 (1980-81) and Dyna Pink in Kagaku Sentai Dynaman (1983-84). She also later appears in Choushinsei Flashman (1986-87). Hagiwara-san spoke some English, and we were able to have a nice conversation. I found her to be extremely friendly, and she was one of the nicest people I've met in Japan. 

Hopefully, I'll have a chance to meet her again the future. I'd certainly love to have the opportunity.