An Evening with Minoru Kawasaki!

Minoru Kawasaki poses with a poster for Planet Prince 2021. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday, February 19, I attended an event with director Minoru Kawasaki. Kawasaki-san is best-known for his low-budget kaiju romps that often feature luminaries from Showa-era tokusatsu productions. The movie of his I'm most familiar with is Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008), which was released on DVD in the U.S. back in the day.

It was a fun event with a few familiar faces who often attend such gatherings. Kawasaki-san showed me some materials from his next movie, which looks just as wacky as anything else he's done. 

 I wasn't able to see the screening of his new film Planet Prince 2021, which is his version of Prince of Space, but I hope to check it out soon. Overall, it was a very fun evening!

ULTRA BIRTHDAY SHOW! Ultraman Suit Actor Bin Furuya Hosts a Special Birthday Event!

Original Ultraman suit actor Bin Furuya strikes his familiar Specium Ray pose at his birthday celebration in Ginza. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Sunday, July 12, marked a special event in Ginza that honored Bin Furuya's 72nd birthday. The event attracted several notable faces from the entertainment industry, and it was great to watch them interact with Furuya-san.

Bin Furuya was the original Ultraman suit actor from the original 1966-67 series from Tsuburaya Productions, and he portrayed Amagi in the followup series Ultra Seven (1967-68). Prior to his work with Tsuburaya, he worked at Toho mostly as an extra in many kaiju and tokusatsu films, though he had a bigger role in Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (1964).

The event began with an autograph signing, and fans were welcome to bring their items for Furuya-san to sign. On sale at the event were familiar bromide cards, but surprisingly larger 8x10s were being sold, as well. These glossies are very unusual to find in Japan.

Throughout the evening, Furuya-san came out in different clothes, first appearing in a traditional kimono, and then later appearing in two different suits. During the evening, special tribute was paid to designer Tohl Narita, and a slide show of Furuya-san's career was presented.

Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008) director Minoru Kawasaki praises Furuya-san during the suit actor's birthday party. Photo by Brett Homenick.

While attendees were eating dinner, special guest speakers took the stage to honor Furuya-san. The first of these was director Minoru Kawasaki, who cast Furuya-san in the goofy Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008). The two had good chemistry together, and they shared quite a few laughs.

Original Astro Boy voice actress Mari Shimizu praised her longtime friend Bin Furuya. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Next, Mari Shimizu (the original voice of the character Astro Boy) and Yoko Mizugaki (the original voice actress for Astro Boy's sister Uran) stepped onstage and shared their memories of Furuya-san. It was a lot of fun to see these icons of Japanese sci-fi interacting with each other, and the three of them seemed to enjoy it, too!

Ultraman Ace actor Mitsuhiro Sano wishes a happy birthday to Bin Furuya. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After that, Ultraman Ace (1972-73) actor Mitsuhiro Sano joined his fellow Tsuburaya Productions alumnus and, like the previous speakers, heaped praise on the original Ultraman.

Your humble blogmeister poses in between original Astro Boy voice actresses Yoko Mizugaki (left) and Mari Shimizu (right).

Overall, it was a very enjoyable event, and Furuya-san was in great spirits. I became reacquainted with several folks I had lost touch with over the years and even made some new friends. As I was leaving, Furuya-san gave me a big hug, which was one highlight out of many. Happy birthday, Furuya-san!

As the event was held in Ginza, I had to take an obligatory photo of the Hattori Clock Tower, as seen in Godzilla (1954). Even at an Ultraman event, Godzilla still finds a way to make an appearance!

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!)

Two Kamen Riders! What does it mean?

Yours truly with Keisuke Kato, who played Kamen Rider Ixa on the series Kamen Rider Kiva (2008-09). I interviewed Mr. Kato for G-FAN magazine on January 4.

My trip to Tokyo wasn't just sightseeing and meeting up with friends. I had some business to conduct, as well. A friend of mine put me in touch with not one but two Kamen Riders, both of whom requested to be interviewed by me for G-FAN magazine.

And who am I to turn down a request by Japan's most popular hero?

Standing with Kazuki Kato, who starred in the series Kamen Rider Kabuto (2006-07), as well as the films Kamen Rider: The Next (2007) and Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008). This interview was conducted on January 5.

Suffice it to say, the interviews were entertaining and informative, and I look forward to seeing them published in G-FAN.

Oh, and before I forget...

Kazuki Kato is also a popular singer in Japan. When he was discussing one of his recent concerts, I asked him if he performed the Take-Majin song. Since he wasn't aware that I had even heard of Guilala, he laughed and expressed surprise that I had seen the movie! Naturally, I asked him several questions about the film.

Yasuhiko Fukuda puts his Kyoto fans in a Neci-Coma!

Composer Yasuhiko Fukuda performed live kaiju music at the Kyoto Minami Kaikan on December 10, 2011.

A name with which most Western kaiju eiga enthusiasts are likely unfamiliar is that of Yasuhiko Fukuda. No surprise, as Fukuda's tokusatsu credits are rather sparse. That said, even if most U.S. fans haven't heard his name, they most certainly know his music.

One of the last honest-to-goodness giant monster movies to come from Japan in recent years was Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008), Minoru Kawasaki's feature-length parody of the kaiju eiga genre. While the film is mostly held in low regard by practically everyone who's seen it, one aspect of the movie has tended to fare a bit better.

That would be the infectious Take-Majin chant ("Neci-Coma, Neci-Coma, Neci-Coma!"), which is probably going to be Monster X's enduring legacy (if such a word can apply to a movie like that!).

Attendees at Kyoto Minami Kaikan's December 10 kaiju all-nighter got a rare treat. Composer Yasuhiko Fukuda, who penned the music to Monster X Strikes Back, was invited as a special guest, and he performed various bits of monster movie music. This included a live performance of that catchy Take-Majin chant, which I was able to record. The video of the performance is below:

I also captured other parts of Fukuda's talk show/musical demonstration, and those videos are included for your viewing pleasure!