Hanging Out with a '70s Toei Tokusatsu Icon!

Go Takashina. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday evening, May 14, I had the opportunity to meet Toei actor Go Takashina for the first time.

Go Takashina, whose real name is Masahiro Takashina (which also used to be his old stage name under a different kanji spelling), began acting professionally in 1973. He has appeared in several movies, but he is mostly known for his decades-long career in television.

Since debuting as an actor, Takashina-san has appeared in episode 14 of Iron King (1972-73) as Phantom member Minazuki, episode 26 of Kamen Rider X (1974) as the human form of a GOD agent, episode 6 of The Kagestar (1976-77), episode 11 of Toho's Super Sentai-inspired series Enban Senso Bankid (1976-77) as a police officer, and (most notably) episodes 16 through 35 of Daitetsujin 17 (1977) as Tetsugoro Iwayama.

When I sat down across from Takashina-san, he said that I had a nice face. Later on in the evening, he was looking at a poster for the James Dean epic East of Eden (1955). I asked him who directed it, but he wasn't sure. I got up to look at the poster and found the name of director, Elia Kazan. But then I quipped that it was actually "Alien" Kazan, which is a play on the katakana spelling of the two names. Well, at least he seemed to appreciate it!

All in all, Takashina-san didn't have many memories about his tokusatsu work. He was surprised to find out that I was familiar with Iron King and knew that he was in it. When I asked him about the infamous Starfish Hitler character from his episode of Kamen Rider X, he had no memory of it. But he was a lot of fun to hang out with and talked a lot about his enthusiasm for driving.

It was great to meet Takashina-san, who was quite a friendly chap to converse with.

Actress Mio Ota Passes Away at Age 70

Mio Ota. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

May 1 saw Japan enter the Reiwa era. It was also the day that actress, chanson singer, and artist Mio Ota suddenly passed away at age 70.

Mio Ota was born in Azumino, Nagano, on February 17, 1949. Among genre fans, her best-known credit is Toho's vampire thriller Evil of Dracula (1974) in which she plays student Yukiko Mitamura. She also appeared as Blue Jaguar on the TV series Giant Iron Man 17 (a.k.a. Daitetsujin 17, 1977) from episode 22 through 35. In more recent years, she performed under the stage name Izuhi Higashioka. (Her real name was Chieko Ota.)

I had the distinct privilege of meeting Ms. Ota in June 2018. I got to spend quite a bit of time around her at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno. She signed some Evil of Dracula items for me, and we even had a discussion about (of all things) politics. (She held strong opinions about both American and Japanese political topics.)

She and I had been connected for years prior to that on social media, and I always enjoyed getting a like or a comment from her. Suffice it to say, I'll always remember her kindness.

Rest in peace, Mio Ota.

Special thanks to Archie H. Waugh for the graphics assistance.

RUSHIA IS COOL! Meeting Pink Jaguar Again!

Rushia Santo. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

During Golden Week, on May 2, I attended an event at which Rushia (a.k.a. Lucia) Santo was the main guest. Santo-san is an actress-singer whose career dates back to the early 1970s. She is best known for playing Pink Jaguar in Daitetsujin 17 (1977), and she also can be seen in Nobuhiko Obayashi's The Visitor in the Eye (1977).

She's very friendly, and I had a great time chatting with her. Although I know her mostly for her work as Pink Jaguar, I should really delve into her non-genre works.

Pink Jaguar in Concert!

Rushia Santo. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

On Wednesday, November 21, I attended a live performance by Rushia (a.k.a. Lucia) Santo, an actress-singer whose career dates back to the early 1970s. Santo-san is best known for playing Pink Jaguar in Daitetsujin 17 (1977), and she also can be seen in Nobuhiko Obayashi's The Visitor in the Eye (1977).

Santo-san was more than a little surprised to see that an American was familiar with her work in Daitetsujin 17. I enjoyed her show and look forward to attending the next one!