THE STUNTMAN AND THE DIRECTOR: An Evening with Japanese Film Alumni!

Hironobu Hagimae. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier tonight, I braved a typhoon (and got sopping wet in the process!) to attend a special event with two special guests: Hironobu Hagimae and Shun Nakahara!

Hironobu Hagimae has performed as a stuntman in America, Japan, and even Australia. He's a veteran of the '70s Kamen Rider series, as well as Mad Max (1979) and The Road Warrior (1981). I've met him several times before, and he's always a gentleman.

Shun Nakahara. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Also on hand was director Shun Nakahara. Nakahara-san has directed The Cherry Orchard (1990), The Gentle Twelve (1991), Colorful (2000), the thriller Concent (2001), and the horror flick Tomie: Forbidden Fruit (2002).

I (very briefly) met Nakahara-san earlier this year, but admittedly I didn't have much to say to him at the time because I wasn't that familiar with his work. I did a bit more homework this time and had more to say this time. He was very friendly, that's for sure!

Meeting the Gentle Three!

Mariko Nakamura. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On the evening of May 3, I was pleased to meet several new faces. They were actress Mariko Nakamura, actor Hiroshi Okochi, and director Shun Nakahara, alumni of the film The Gentle Twelve (1991).

Hiroshi Okochi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Hiroshi Okochi is a prolific actor whose biggest tokusatsu credit is playing the regimental commander of the Sapporo Odori Command Center in Gamera 2 (1996). He remains an in-demand actor in Japan to this day. He left the event not long after I arrived from work, so I didn't have much interaction with him.

With Mariko Nakamura, director Shun Nakahara, and Hiroshi Okochi.

Most of all, however, I was privileged to meet actress Mariko Nakamura. She is the daughter of legendary actor Nobuo Nakamura, a veteran of countless Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu films. He also appeared in numerous tokusatsu movies, particularly Dogora the Space Monster (1964) as Dr. Munakata (a.k.a. the self-described "young soldier") and The War of the Gargantuas (1966) as Professor Kita.

Ms. Nakamura is an actress in her own right, having appeared in the Toho actioner The Black Battlefront Kidnappers (1973), starring Hiroshi Fujioka. It was a lot of fun speaking with her about her father's film career, as well as her own.

Ms. Nakamura studied in France, so she speaks French and even a bit of English. She told me she was surprised to see her father speaking English in Submersion of Japan (1973), as that wasn't something he normally did and guessed it must have been difficult for him.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening!