MOTOYOSHI ODA FACE REVEAL! The Camera-Shy Director Can Finally Be Seen in All His Glory!

Director Motoyoshi Oda (left) and SFX director Eiji Tsuburaya (center) on the set of Toho's The Invisible Man (1954). The Invisible Man © 1954, Toho Co., Ltd. 

In the wake of Yoshimitsu Banno's passing, I was having a discussion with some Godzilla fans in the U.S., and the subject of Motoyoshi Oda came up. It turns out that photographs of the Godzilla Raids Again (1955) and The Invisible Man (1954) director are pretty hard to come by. In fact, one fan-generated collage of Godzilla directors that was circulated a couple of years ago presented Oda as a literal shadow.

Motoyoshi Oda (far right) confers with his cast on the set of The Invisible Man. The Invisible Man © 1954, Toho Co., Ltd. 

After the discussion, I decided to dig around and try to find any photos I might have of Motoyoshi Oda. One source in my collection had two pictures (from the set of The Invisible Man), and in order to put a face with the name at long last, I'm sharing the photographs here.

OSAKA CASTLE STORY! Finally Seeing This Memorable Location in Person!

"Hey, I thought it was going to be a lot bigger!" A miniature replica of Osaka Castle. Photo by Brett Homenick.

One iconic image in the Godzilla series is Godzilla's battling Angilas near Osaka Castle in Godzilla Raids Again (a.k.a. Gigantis the Fire Monster, 1955). I remember seeing the same publicity still from that scene in just about every monster book that came out in the 1980s. Therefore Osaka Castle was location I had my eye on for quite some time, and on August 16, I was finally able to pay it a visit.

The pictures below are self-explanatory; they're of Osaka Castle and the surrounding area. They say a picture's worth a thousand words, and who am I to argue? Let's get to the good stuff.