Visiting the King of the Kaiju Designers!

Akihiko Iguchi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Thursday, September 23, I went to a special event in Shibuya where kaiju and mecha designer Akihiko Iguchi was selling his wares. I stopped by to say hello and pick up a few items (one of which was for a rather lucky friend).

It feels like things are slowly getting back to normal with more events like this, so all I can do is hope the trend continues. As always, Iit was a lot of fun seeing Iguchi-san again, and I hope to have another chance to see him again soon in the future.

Godzilla and NBC at Toho Studios!

In between actor Masaaki Daimon and NBC reporter Scott Swan at Toho Studios.

I'm pleased to report that on Tuesday, September 3, I participated in an NBC News story about Godzilla that will air in the U.S. in July 2020 (just in time for the Tokyo Olympics). The story was produced by the NBC affiliate in Indianapolis, Indiana, but it will be made available to other NBC affiliates nationwide. I'm also told that the story will be available online. So, no matter where you are in the U.S. (or. hopefully, the world), you will get a chance to see it.

I arranged for a couple of Toho alumni to appear in the story, which was shot at Toho Studios. Actor Masaaki Daimon (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Terror of Mechagodzilla) was the first interviewee, and he shared his memories of making Mechagodzilla, as well as his thoughts on the character of Godzilla.

I was very happy to see Daimon-san again, which was the first time since 2016. I was also rather pleased that he remembered me!

Akihiko Iguchi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After Daimon-san's interview, kaiju designer Akihiko Iguchi was interviewed, and he seemed to have a lot of fun discussing his design work. Actually, on the way to Toho, I ran into Iguchi-san at a train station quite by accident, and we went to Toho Studios together. 

After Iguchi-san's interview, yours truly was interviewed for the story, discussing my interest in the character and how Godzilla has endured for all these years. Naturally, I can't wait for the story to air. The NBC crew has a lot of surprises and exclusives in store for you that no other documentary has ever gotten access to. When they showed me one photo in particular, my jaw dropped!

Many thanks to Scott Swan, the NBC crew, and the folks at Toho for making this day one for the history books!

MECHAGODZILLA PROPS ON DISPLAY! Now I Know What It's Like on the Third Planet of the Black Hole!

 "I want the statue!" Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I attended a special event with Godzilla series SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano. In celebration of Nakano-san's career, some props from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) and Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) were on display, most notably the King Seesar (a.k.a. King Caesar) statue, Professor Miyajima's powerful pipe, and a alien ray guns from both films. The Mechagodzilla films have long been favorites of mine, and while it was cool enough to look at them, it was something else to hold them. Quite cool, indeed!