Mizuho Suzuki, 'Godzilla 1985's' Foreign Minister Emori, Passes Away at Age 96

Mizuho Suzuki.

Actor Mizuho Suzuki, best known to Godzilla fans for his role as Foreign Minister Emori in Godzilla 1985 (1984), passed away due to heart failure in Tokyo at 11:01 p.m. on November 19. He was 96. A private funeral has already been held. 

Aside from his turn in the Godzilla series, Mr. Suzuki's other notable credits include the Daiei period horror film The Snow Woman (1968), Kihachi Okamoto's Battle of Okinawa (1971), Submersion of Japan (1973), The Last Days of Planet Earth (1974), Conflagration (1975), the Toei all-star actioner The Bullet Train (1975), and Deathquake (1980). 

He was also responsible for dubbing Charlton Heston in the theatrical version of Solar Crisis (1990). On the small screen, Mr. Suzuki provided the voice for Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) in The Godfather (1972), as well as Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, for the Nippon TV broadcasts of those films. 

Born in Manchuria on October 23, 1927, Mr. Suzuki moved to Japan after the war at the age of 18 with his father, who was a Japanese soldier, and began his acting career in 1952 when, after graduating from college, he reportedly helped establish the Mingei Theatre Company, although the theater troupe's home page does not mention Mr. Suzuki's involvement in its founding. (It should also be noted that this source only asserts that Mr. Suzuki dropped out of Kyoto University and makes no mention of his graduating from another university.)

By 1958, Mr. Suzuki had made the transition from the stage to the big screen, appearing in several movies for Nikkatsu. In the 1970s and '80s, he would appear in numerous tokusatsu productions at Toho, usually playing government officials, which would earn him a measure of international recognition. 

In September of this year, I reached out to Gekidan Dora, the theater company Mr. Suzuki helped found in 1972, about interviewing the actor. I never received a reply, but, given his advanced age, I wasn't too surprised. Unfortunately, it turned out that Mr. Suzuki would pass away less than two months later.

Rest in peace, Mr. Suzuki.

A Night of Tokusatsu!

Hironobu Hagimae and Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Tonight (Sunday, March 19), I attended another tokusatsu event headlined by two familiar faces: Toho SFX crew member Takashi Naganuma and motorcycle stuntman Hironobu Hagimae.

Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I spent most of the evening with Naganuma-san, who told me he enjoys seeing my reactions to his jokes and wordplay. Well, his jokes are always full of surprises, so I'm sure my reactions are as interesting as he says. Once again, there was very little tokusatsu talk; it was mostly about other things, especially about language (both Japanese and English).

Tonight was one of the few times I accompanied Naganuma-san outside for his smoke break (along with another attendee). After the show, the three of us walked back to the station together. They asked me if I wanted to join them for coffee, but I elected to go home instead. It was fun, but I was pretty exhausted.

Hironobu Hagimae. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Stuntman Hironobu Hagimae was also on hand. I overheard his answer to someone else's question about retakes of motorcycle stunts with explosions. He said that there usually would be and that there could be as many as four takes sometimes. So it wasn't always just a one and done. 

I didn't have much of a chance to talk to Hagimae-san this time. But I did learn that he had some involvement with the motorcycle stunts in The Last Days of Planet Earth (a.k.a. Prophecies of Nostradamus, 1974). Gotta find out more about that someday!

It was another fun, informal event, and I look forward to doing it again soon!

Ben Goto, Author of the Book 'Prophecies of Nostradamus,' Dies at 90

Author Ben Goto. Photo © Jiji Press.

Author Ben Goto, whose book Prophecies of Nostradamus was loosely adapted into a controversial disaster film at Toho Studios in 1974, died on June 16. He was 90 years old.

Born Tsutomu Goto on November 17, 1929, in Hakodate, Hokkaido, the author better known around the world as Ben Goto graduated from Tohoku University's School of Law and launched his award-winning writing and journalism career in 1953 after moving to Tokyo. 

On November 25, 1973, the Japanese publishing company Shodensha released Goto's groundbreaking Prophecies of Nostradamus, which quickly became a bestseller, with more than 2.5 million copies sold. Its central warning that the world was likely to end in July 1999 resonated with Japanese readers at the time, particularly due to the country's rampant pollution problems. Toho released its film adaptation of the book on August 3, 1974.

According to an article in the Japan Times, Goto was quoted in a recent interview as saying, "When I published that book in 1973, the possibility existed of World War III between the United States and the Soviet Union. An end-of-the-world scenario by 1999 seemed fully imaginable.”

A total of 10 volumes of Nostradamus books were eventually published by Shodensha throughout the years, the last one being published in July 1998. Each book in the series sold reasonably well, but none of the other entries matched the impact of the first release.

In the same Japan Times article, Goto also asserts, "Nostradamus accurately predicted the moon landing and credit card loans." So Nostradamus predicted credit card loans, too? All that's missing is Jack Ryland bombastically intoning, "And it came to pass."

Rest in peace, Ben Goto.

The Tower of the Sun

In front of Taro Okamoto's massive Tower of the Sun.

During my recent trip to Osaka, I made sure to pay a visit to the 70-meter-tall Tower of the Sun sculpture in Expo '70 Commemorative Park, just outside the city. Aside from just being visually interesting, it was featured during the opening credits of The Last Days of Planet Earth (a.k.a. Prophecies of Nostradamus, 1974), which gave me an added incentive to visit it. The Tower of the Sun is an impressive piece of art, and I'd fully recommend it to anyone who might be interested in checking it out.

2015 IS 1974! Toho SFX Greats Turn the Clock Back to the Mid-1970s!

SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano (left) and model-maker Takashi Naganuma (right) discuss the state of the industry in the 1970s. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I just returned from a special event in Yokohama, highlighting some of the most impressive SFX movies from the 1970s. SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano and model-maker Takashi Naganuma were in attendance, and much of the discussion focused on the making of The Last Days of Planet Earth (a.k.a. Prophecies of Nostradamus, 1974).

Teruyoshi Nakano recalls blowing things up on the set ... and sometimes the set itself! Photo by Brett Homenick.

The Last Days of Planet Earth is a film that continues to be shrouded in controversy, especially in Japan, where it has yet to see an official home video release. However, that doesn't stop Toho fans from wanting to know more about its production.

Model-maker Takashi Naganuma makes a point during the discussion. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After the discussion, the attendees all had a nabe dinner together. It was another enjoyable meal, but the company with whom we ate made it truly special.

A fan gave Teruysohi Nakano a rather splendid gift. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Naturally, it was a lot of fun to see Nakano-san and Naganuma-san again. They are always affable and love talking shop with fans.

December will prove to be another busy month with many cool things happening. More cool things will be happening this week, so stay tuned to this blog for more!

See you later!