New Q&A on Vantage Point Interviews with a Showa-Era Superstar!

Kaoru Yumi in March 2023. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Vantage Point Interviews is proud to present my interview with the legendary actress Kaoru Yumi, star of such Toho tokusatsu epics as The Last Days of Planet Earth (a.k.a. Prophecies of Nostradamus, 1974) and Espy (1974), as well as the Submersion of Japan (1974-75) TV show. The interview was conducted during two separate sessions in March 2023 and November 2023, and it covers a variety of topics regarding Ms. Yumi's career. Some photos from those sessions, which have never been published until now, are also contained within this blog post. Enjoy!

Kaoru Yumi in November 2023. Photo by Brett Homenick.

A Return to the Laputa Asagaya!

The Laputa Asagaya. Photo by Brett Homenick.

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from screenwriter Fumio Ishimori. He invited me to join him at a screening of his film Kyoko and Jiro (1973), produced by Shochiku Studios. Kyoko and Jiro is a romantic melodrama that follows the lives of the titular characters, including all the ups and downs. Kaoru Yumi and Yuriko Hishimi are two of the actresses that tokusatsu fans would likely recognize.

I went to the theater (the Laputa Asagaya) and met Ishimori-san there. Shortly thereafter, the movie started. I was surprised to see it was a packed house, but I guess there were quite a few people who wanted to see the film. And an enjoyable film it was. It was very stylishly directed and well acted by its cast members.

Fumio Ishimori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After the movie, our group had lunch at a nearby restaurant. There, I was introduced to a female anime TV scriptwriter who was a student of Ishimori-san's. We all had a great conversation. Many thanks to Ishimori-san for inviting me!

TERUYOSHI NAKANO RETURNS! The SFX Director Talks Espy!

Former Toho SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano signs a shikishi board for a lucky fan. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I just returned from a movie event in Yokohama with famed special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano. It was a small and intimate gathering hosted by Cinema Novecento, and the theme of the event was the Toho action film Espy (1974).

A 35mm print of Espy was screened, and while it was very enjoyable, I have to say that the most interesting part of the screening happened right at the beginning. Instead of the Espy theme music playing during Toho's production logo, Isao Tomita's opening music from The Last Days of Planet Earth (1974) suddenly blared from the speakers! Suffice it to say, I was surprised and wondered if we were going to be treated to a secret screening of this "banned" film.

After the production logo, however, there was an abrupt cut, and Espy began. I mentioned this to the group after the screening, but no one -- not even Nakano-san himself, who watched the film with us -- noticed anything different. However, my friend Yasushi and I asked the projectionist to look at the actual film, and sure enough there was a splice after the Toho production logo. Not only that, but the projectionist noticed that there was a sudden change in the soundtrack by comparing the film before and after the splice. Moreover, everyone in our group noticed that some of the more "risque" scenes were trimmed from the film.

So what happened? Our group hypothesized that, during the film's initial run, perhaps there was damage to the film print during the production logo, and Toho decided to slap on the logo from The Last Days of Planet Earth, which had already finished its theatrical run, to replace it. As for the other trims, perhaps they were done by an overly cautious theater manager. In any case, the differences were fascinating to see!

Nakano-san was in great spirits, as usual. He told the story of how author Sakyo Komatsu wanted actress Kaoru Yumi to star in Submersion of Japan (1973) but was unsuccessful. Afterward, he got her cast in the spin-off TV series.

Overall, it was a great event, and another one will take place next week. I look forward to attending it.