SHOWA HEROES OF THE 1970S! A Trio of Good Guys Joins Forces to Save the World!

From left to right: Shoji Ishibashi, Takeshi Sasaki, and Naoya Makoto. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I attended a Showa Hero event today that was headlined by three heroes of the '70s: Shoji Ishibashi, Takeshi Sasaki, and Naoya Makoto. It was a somewhat unusual grouping, as the three stars all headlined separate TV programs. But they are without a doubt three of the biggest heroes of the Henshin Boom of the '70s.

Naoya Makoto poses with his birthday cake. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Even though his actual birthday isn't until June 25, Makoto-san was presented with a birthday cake. Makoto-san commented that he will be turning 71 and that time flies. Indeed it does.

Naoya Makoto. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

For those of you not in the know, Naoya Makoto starred as the titular hero's human alter ego, Daisuke Misaki, in Tsuburaya Productions' Fireman (1973), as well as Tsuyoshi Kaijo/Akaranger in the original Super Sentai program Himitsu Sentai Goranger (1975-77).

I'd met him before at a previous Showa Hero event, and while I know he's attended other events since then, I'd never gotten a chance to see him until today. It's always a joy to meet a hero from Tsuburaya Productions.

Takeshi Sasaki. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Takeshi Sasaki was the actor who replaced the injured Hiroshi Fujioka on the original Kamen Rider (1971-73) series as Kamen Rider 2, and then teamed up with him later in the show.

It might be an exaggeration, but I'm not sure I'd ever seen a guest at any event in Japan sign as much memorabilia as Sasaki-san. Most fans in the line brought multiple (and I do mean multiple!) items for him to sign, and he took his time, carefully signing each one. It was quite interesting to see.

Shoji Ishibashi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The final guest in the lineup was Shoji Ishibashi, who played Gentaro Shizuka on Iron King (1972-73).

He was the only guest I hadn't met before. Back in 2015, I briefly met his Iron King co-star Mitsuo Hamada at an event to which I'd arrived late. Ishibashi-san was very kind and was a great guest to meet.

And that concludes the most recent Showa Hero event.

KAMEN RIDER REUNION! Three of the Series' Main Players Join Forces in Tokyo!

From left to right: Tetsuya Nakayashiki, Matasaburo Niwa, and Takeshi Sasaki. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On April 8, a Showa Hero event was held at the Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo. It featured a reunion of three major alumni from the original Kamen Rider (1971-73) series. This Showa Hero event was a lot of fun, but let's talk about the guests.

With Takeshu Sasaki.

Sasaki-san played Kamen Rider 2 on the original Kamen Rider. I'd just met Sasaki-san less than a month ago, but I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to see him again. He's quite a gentleman!

With Matasaburo Niwa.

Matasaburo Niwa was born in 1934 and began his acting career in 1955. He started his career at Shintoho before joining Daiei and appearing in several notable films, including the epic Buddha (1961) and several entries of the classic Zatoichi series. New Tale of Zatoichi (1963), Zatoichi on the Road (1963), and Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold (1964) are his films in the series. In the horror genre, he appears in Ghost Story of Devil's Fire Swamp (1963).

On television, Niwa-san played Spider on Giant Robo (a.k.a. Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, 1967-68), and appeared multiple times on Kamen Rider as well as Kamen Rider V3 (1973-74) as General Black. It was my first time to meet Niwa-san, and given his history in movies and TV shows, he was the main guest for me. I also found him to be very friendly.

With Tetsuya Nakayashiki.

Tetsuya Nakayashiki is a prolific suit actor, closely associated with the Showa-era Kamen Rider series. Nakayashiki-san suit-acted at least part of the time as a Kamen Rider character from the original Kamen Rider through Kamen Rider Super-1 (1980-81). Naturally, his credits in Toei tokusatsu are far too extensive to list here. Beyond Toei, Nakayashiki-san can be seen in the Toho actioner Espy (1974) as well as episode 12 of Tsuburaya Productions' TV series Mighty Jack (1968). Of course, he also was a great guy to meet.

I was very happy to attend this Showa Hero event and hope to join the next one, as well!

HENSHIN! Meeting Kamen Rider 2 Takeshi Sasaki!

 Takeshi Sasaki (a.k.a. Kamen Rider 2). Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Today, I attended a special event with Takeshi Sasaki, the man who replaced Hiroshi Fujioka on the original Kamen Rider (1971-73) series and then teamed up with him when Fujioka recovered from his on-set injury. While I'd seen Sasaki-san at Super Festival in the past, I'd never actually met him until today.

I'm not as well versed in all things Kamen Rider as others are, but I certainly enjoyed meeting Sasaki-san, who is an undisputed legend in tokusatsu. I just have to work on my Kamen Rider poses!

MORE SUPER FESTIVAL 74 SHOTS! Toys Galore and More!

Sanda and Gaila -- even uglier than you remember!

Some Ultra-masks on display.

Gamera crawled a long way to make it to Super Festival on time.

Godzilla battles Hedorah again, a good 46 years later!

Takeshi Sasaki strikes a Kamen Rider pose.

Eiichi Kikuchi and yours truly strike an Ultra-pose of our own!

Ultraman Powered looks pleased at his recent Blu-ray release in Japan.

Congratulating Ultraman Powered on a job well done.

Hey, who let the Fink (or should that be "Knif"?) into the show?

Well, I guess it's no longer a "secret"!

SUPER FESTIVAL 74! The Toys Are Back in Town!

April 23 saw Super Festival 74 stomp into the Science Museum in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. As someone who has now attended this event for several years, I don't really have that much else to say about it. It was fun, but the show never seems to change that much.

Of course, many toys, models, DVDs, and various other kinds of memorabilia were offered for sale. If you look hard enough, some real bargains could be found. But I'm not much of a collector, and I certainly never touch any toys or models. Just not my bag, and I don't want to be encumbered by it all.

Ultraman Powered swoops into action! Photo by Brett Homenick.

Ultraman Powered (a.k.a. Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero) was featured at Super Festival, due to the recent release of the series on Blu-ray in Japan. Toshio Miike was on hand to talk about the series and sign autographs. 

Takeshi Sasaki (a.k.a. Kamen Rider 2) finishes his interview session at Super Festival. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The headlining guest at Super Festival was Takeshi Sasaki, the man who replaced Hiroshi Fujioka on the original Kamen Rider (1971-73) series and then teamed up with him when Fujioka recovered from his on-set injury. The autograph line for Sasaki was quite long (as to be expected), which goes to show how popular Kamen Rider remains in Japan.

 Producer Toshinori Nishida promotes LEDX at Super Festival. Photo by Brett Homenick.

While wandering around the halls, I spotted producer Toshinori Nishida, whose independent kaiju film LEDX was recently released. I met Nishida-san in March during a screening of LEDX, and we've been in touch ever since. It was certainly great to see him again.

Hey, look, it's that total performer himself, Pee-wee Herman! I remember when this doll was being sold in toy stores across America, and it was pretty funny to see it randomly for sale today. I hope no birds were around to interfere with this high-wire act this time.

Yours truly with Yuji Kaida. 

I also ran into artist Yuji Kaida again, whom I last saw in late February. He and his wife, Aya, were selling various merchandise. The Kaidas are always wonderful to see.

Ultraman Jack suit actor Eiichi Kikuchi. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

It just wouldn't be Super Festival without Eiichi Kikuchi, the Return of Ultraman (1971-72) suit actor who makes just about every show and was helping promote LEDX.

Those are about all the highlights. I'm sure the hardcore toy collectors could tell you all about what figures were on sale, who manufactured them, what kind of paint was used, etc., but I can offer no such details. I'm a fish out of water at toy shows like this, and I only come to meet guests and see friends.

Still, it's always cool to take photos of interesting figures and models, but that's all I need to take with me. You can keep the rest!