Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe Passes Away at Age 66

Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe in June 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe passed away on May 3 at age 66. He was found hanging in his home, but no further details are available at this time. 

Born in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, on December 9, 1955, Mr. Watanabe would make his big-screen debut in the film On the Road (1982), which would lead to a lengthy career in film and television.

Prior to that, however, he auditioned for, but didn't get cast as, the lead role of the series Kamen Rider Super-1 (1980-81). He would eventually get to play Kamen Rider Gaoh in Kamen Rider Den-O: I'm Born! (2007), which made him the oldest actor to play a Kamen Rider at the time.

During his acting career,  Mr. Watanabe appeared in all three of the Heisei Gamera films as Col. Ono, as well as GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) as Yutaka Hirose. He was also a series regular on Ultraman Gaia (1998-99) as Akio Ishimuro, among various other tokusatsu films and TV programs.

I met Mr. Watanabe just once, which was in June 2016. He was a friendly guy and very easy to speak with. As he had been studying it for a few years, he could communicate in English quite well. As an actor, his career touched the Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider series -- a very rare feat. 

Rest in peace, Mr. Watanabe.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN! Star and Director Reunite in Yokohama!

Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe speaks with fans in Yokohama. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday night (June 4), I attended a special dinner event with actor Hiroyuki Watanabe and director Seiji Izumi. The event followed a screening of the Japanese action film On the Road (1982), which starred Watanabe-san and was directed by Izumi-san.

Unfortunately, I had to miss the movie, but I was able to make it in time for the dinner. I enjoyed speaking with both Watanabe-san and Izumi-san.

Director Seiji Izumi gives the camera a thumbs-up! Photo by Brett Homenick.

Hiroyuki Watanbe is an actor who appeared in all three of the Heisei Gamera films as well as GMK (2001), which were all helmed by Shusuke Kaneko. He was also a series regular on Ultraman Gaia (1998-99), and he has made several other appearances in various tokusatsu films and TV programs.

Seiji Izumi directed many Nikkatsu pink films during the 1970s, but after he made On the Road, he was able to branch out into more mainstream fare. He was the main director on the long-running detective TV series Aibo (2002-present) and directed the theatrical spin-off Aibo the Movie (2008). Suffice it to say, he remains a busy director to this day.

It was great to meet both gentlemen for the first time. Hopefully, I'll get to do so again in the future.