THE LATEST FROM TOKYO! A Quick Update from the Land of the Rising Sun!

A couple of brief updates: Earlier today I had an English lesson with actor-singer Kazuki Kato. Kato-san is best known in the U.S. for his starring turn in Minoru Kawasaki's kaiju eiga send-up Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008), as well as for his portrayal of Kamen Rider in the film Kamen Rider: The Next (2007), and the TV series Kamen Rider Kabuto (2006-07). More lessons are scheduled for the coming weeks.

On Monday, I attended a seminar hosted by TV personality Hiromi Ikeuchi. Nanako Kaneko (pictured on the right) was also in attendance, and we had a pleasant chat. Thankfully, she speaks English quite well!

ODDS AND ENDS: A Quick Update from Tokyo

Despite being a fairly routine day, there were some cool goings-on that I thought I'd share. First, I completed an English lesson with actor Kazuki Kato. Kato-san starred in Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008), Kamen Rider: The Next (2007), and Kamen Rider Kabuto (2006-07), among many other titles. It was great to catch up with him again. He's a busy actor currently appearing in a popular stage play.

Even before my lesson with Kato-san, I headed to the Toho Cinemas in Shibuya to see the new Godzilla poster. While the movie is already playing in America (as well as many other parts of the world), we in Japan have to wait more than two months for the flick to come out! I just hope I can avoid the spoilers for that amount of time.

Yes, I had to take a photo with the poster. It's pretty much a required ritual for any kaiju fan worth his salt!

KAMEN RIDER OR KAMEN READER? Two Tokusatsu Stars Promote G-FAN Magazine!

Actor Kazuki Kato poses with yours truly following our interview in January 2012.

G-FAN #100 has been published, and among its contents are interviews I conducted with two of the more recent Kamen Rider stars. Kazuki Kato (Kamen Rider Kabuto, Kamen Rider: The Next, Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit) and Keisuke Kato (Kamen Rider Kiva) provided fascinating stories about their careers, but what surprised me most is the amount of interest they showed in me and G-FAN magazine.

In fact, they've even updated their respective blogs with information (and pictures) of the current issue!

Kazuki Kato's blog entry can be read here. I took the photo used on Kato-san's blog. I'm very proud to say that my apartment's carpeting appears on his blog!

Your humble blogmeister shakes Keisuke Kato's hand after conducting our interview in January of this year.

Keisuke Kato's blog entry can be seen here. Naturally, he provided the photo in this blog post himself!

To order your own copy of G-FAN #100, go here.

(Special thanks to Asako Kato of English Avenue Daikanyama!)