Shintaro Ishihara, Former Toho Director and Screenwriter (and Governor of Tokyo), Passes Away at Age 89

Akira Takarada, Reiko Dan, and Shintaro Ishihara on the set of the 1960 Toho film The Dangerous Kiss.

Shintaro Ishihara, the outspoken and controversial former governor of Tokyo from 1999 through 2012, passed away on February 1 at age 89.

Mr. Ishihara's political opinions will be the subject of debate for years to come, and it should go without saying that they are well beyond the scope of this blog post. I would simply like to point out Mr. Ishihara's often-ignored stint as a writer-director at Toho.

For some background, let me quote from The Japan Times:

Born in Kobe on Sept. 30, 1932, Ishihara first rose to national fame as a young writer, winning the prestigious Akutagawa Award in 1956 for his novel “Taiyo no Kisetsu” (“Season of the Sun”), which he wrote a year earlier at the age of 22 while a student at Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University. The book became a best-seller, and Ishihara’s younger brother, Yujiro, who would go on to become one of Japan’s top film stars, made his debut as an actor in the novel’s film adaptation.

That film adaptation was Crazed Fruit (1956), produced by Nikkatsu Studios, which garnered international acclaim. Shortly thereafter, he wrote and directed the boxing drama The Young Beast (1958) at Toho, starring Akira Kubo. In 1960, one of Mr. Ishihara's books was adapted into a much different boxing story, the farcical romance The Dangerous Kiss, starring Akira Takarada. This film, directed by Yuzo Kawashima with a screenplay by Zenzo Matsuyama, features a cameo by Mr. Ishihara himself.

The poster for The Dangerous Kiss (on the right), which prominently advertises the involvement of Shintaro Ishihara. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I saw The Dangerous Kiss theatrically back in 2017, so please follow this link if you'd like to read my writeup on it. 

It's quite amusing to think that such a consequential political figure in Japan once wrote the story on which an Akira Takarada comedy was based, but, lest we forget, the U.S. has seen its share of characters in public office, too. In this case, at least we can all put aside our political opinions and talk about some fun and entertaining movies for a change.

A RETURN TO THE MOVIES! Seeing Toho Flicks Again in Asagaya!

Tickets for tonight's double feature. Photo by Brett Homenick.

It's Monday, so that must mean I went back to the Laputa Asagaya for another double feature. On tonight's menu was a pair of Toho features, which couldn't be any more different from each other. One was the screwball romantic comedy The Dangerous Kiss (1960), and the other was the eerie vampire tale Lake of Dracula (1971). 

Prior to the screenings, another audio recording by none other than Shinichi Yanagisawa was played, describing the background of The Dangerous Kiss. It's always a treat to hear Yanagisawa-san's familiar voice. 

 A poster for The Dangerous Kiss (uh, the one on the right). Photo by Brett Homenick.

The Dangerous Kiss stars Akira Takarada, Reiko Dan, Ichiro Arishima, Sachio Sakai, and several other Toho regulars (most of whom didn't appear in the studio's monster films). It's a lighthearted, over-the-top comedy that doesn't take itself seriously for one second. Takarada-san plays a popular, handsome boxer named Akira Takada (get it?) who, after a car collision, is photographed by the paparazzi trying to revive a high school student (played by Reiko Dan) using an unusual combination of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and ramen broth. The photo (looking more like a make-out session than a life-saving attempt) ends up on the cover of a gossip magazine and causes all sorts of shenanigans among the multiple women in Takada's life.

There's a lot happening in this film, everything from a food-fight sequence to a stage show at a nightclub featuring a guy in a yeti suit menacing a dancer. (The suit looked a bit like the one used in Half Human but, to my eye, was demonstrably different.)  Takarada-san was at his most charismatic here, and the entire cast was obviously having a lot of fun with the material.

Poster art for Toho's Lake of Dracula. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

After The Dangerous Kiss, it was time for a movie about a different kind of dangerous kisses -- you know, the kind vampires give you when they're trying to eat. Lake of Dracula was screened in all its glory, and it has obviously never looked better. I've never seen it in 35mm before, but the detail of the images was fantastic. Watching Shin Kishida's death scene at the end was quite intriguing. I never noticed before that the makeup used on Kishida's face during his death scene wasn't applied to his neck, making it plainly obvious to the viewer that it's all just a touch-up job.

And so ends another eventful Monday night. I'll be back at the Laputa Asagaya soon, but on a different night from my usual routine. Why the change? Stay tuned to this blog for the exciting answer!