CHRISTMAS WITH IZUMI YUKIMURA! The Celebrated Actress-Singer Performs Live in Roppongi!

Izumi Yukimura. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Tonight, I attended a special Christmas dinner show performed by Izumi Yukimura, one of Japan's most popular singers of the postwar era. She also starred in numerous Toho movies during the 1950s and '60s, including Kihachi Okamoto's classic Desperado Outpost (1959) and the all-star musical You Can Succeed, Too (1964). Not only that, but her credits include Ichimatsu Travels with Ghosts (1959) and The Princess of Badger Palace (1958), which owe more to the genre we're all interested in.

I'm glad I got to spend time with Yukimura-san after the show. She is doing very well and was in high spirits, even joking around a bit. I certainly hope there's another show next Christmas. If so, I'll most certainly be there!

TOEI KYOTO STUDIO PARK! Revisiting This Kyoto-Based Ninja and Superhero Theme Park!

Welcome to Toei Kyoto Studio Park! Photo by Brett Homenick. 

In the summer of 2011, I made my first trip to Toei Kyoto Studio Park, taking in all the sights there were to see. Six years later, I wanted to do it all over again, so during my recent trip to Kansai, I set aside a couple of hours for my return to the theme park.

Don't let the "theme park" description mislead you, though. This isn't anything like Universal Studios. For one thing, the Edo-era sets seen in the park are actually used for the filming of Japanese TV shows and movies. (This is still a working studio.)

There are live ninja stage shows, a spooky haunted house, a film archive with movie memorabilia on display, a museum dedicated to actress/singer Hibari Misora (complete with a statue of the Japanese icon), and an area of the park called Hero Land with live-size replicas of the various incarnations of Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. There's something for everyone here, and if you look hard enough, you can even find Godzilla and Eiji Tsuburaya! Follow this link for more info about the park.

Now, on to the photos.