HEROES COVERGE IN JIMBOCHO! Toei Alumni Discuss Their Heroic Pasts!

Actor Osamu Sakuta and actress Hiroko Saito discuss working on superhero television productions during the 1970s and '80s. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I made my way to Jimbocho to attend a special event with two TV stars from the '70s and '80s. The guests were Hiroko Saito and Osamu Sakuta.

Actress Hiroko Saito. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I've blogged about Hiroko Saito before. She's appeared in Kamen Rider (1971-73), Kamen Rider V3 (1973-74), Kikaider (1972-73), Barom-1 (1972), Inazuman (1973-74), Kamen Rider X (1974), Star Wolf (1978), Toei's Spider-Man (1978-79), and Ultraman 80 (1980-81). However, in the West, she would be best known for her role on Tsuburaya Productions' Time of the Apes (1974-75) as Yurika. 

Actor Osamu Sakuta. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Osamu Sakuta starred as the titular character in Nebula Mask Machineman (1984) from Toei Studios. Prior to that, he could be seen in guest appearances on Spectreman (1971-72), the original Kamen Rider, Barom-1, and Kikaider. He also appears in the Toho war epic The Imperial Navy (1981) and the Ken Takakura film Kaikyo (1982).

It was very nice to see Saito-san again just a week after last seeing her. As always, she was very kind and friendly.

It was quite fun to meet Sakuta-san for the first time. We had a brief chat, and he seemed interested in getting to know me. I look forward to seeing him again.

MORE PICS! Hiroyuki Takano's Dinner Party!

Yours truly with Hiroko Saito, Yoshinobu Kaneko, and Hiroyuki Takano.

Hanging out with Yoshinobu Kaneko.

Hiroyuki Takano shows off his cake, celebrating 50 years as an actor.

Make a wish!

Hangin' with Hiroyuki Takano.

With the wonderful and talented Hiroko Saito.

Hey, look! It's Red Shadow and Blue Shadow!

Yoshinobu Kaneko strikes his famous Blue Shadow pose from Red Shadow.

Yoshinobu Kaneko poses for the camera.

50 YEARS AN ACTOR! Hiroyuki Takano Hosts a Stylish Celebration!

Child actors all grown up: Hiroyuki Takano, Hiroko Saito, and Yoshinobu Kaneko. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Last night, I attended a special dinner event as part of a celebration of Hiroyuki Takano's 50th anniversary celebration as an actor. (As you can imagine, he got started very young.) The celebration included two other former child actors: Yoshinobu Kaneko and Hiroko Saito.

With Yoshinobu Kaneko.

Yoshinobu Kaneko was a child actor with a varied career. In the West, Kaneko-san would be best known as the young boy in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) who begs his mother to go see Godzilla, only to be told that they're not going to the zoo. He stars in the title role of the Toei fantasy/action film Watari, Ninja Boy (1966) and co-stars as Blue Shadow in the Toei TV series Red Shadow (1967-68) and the movie spin-off Ninja Scope (1969). He also can be seen in episode 15 of Ultraman (1966-67), among numerous other TV and film appearances. Despite rumors to the contrary, he is not the younger brother of the late child actor Mitsunobu Kaneko, who starred in Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (1967-68). I first met Kaneko-san four years ago and never had a chance to see him again until last night. It was wonderful to see him again.

With Hiroyuki Takano.

Naturally, Hiroyuki Takano was a guest at his own celebration. Among other movie and TV appearances, Takano-san can be seen in Ultra Seven (1967-68), Fight! Mighty Jack (1968), Operation: Mystery (1968-69), Spectreman (1971-72), Return of Ultraman (1971-72), Kamen Rider (1971-73), Silver Mask (1971-72), and Submersion of Japan (1974-75). However, his most notable role was co-starring in the Toei superhero series Barom-1 (1972) as Kentaro Shiratori. It was a blast talking about San Diego and other California locations with him!

With Hiroko Saito.

Hiroko Saito has appeared in Kamen Rider (1971-73), Kamen Rider V3 (1973-74), Kikaider (1972-73), Barom-1, Inazuman (1973-74), Kamen Rider X (1974), Star Wolf (1978), Toei's Spider-Man (1978-79), and Ultraman 80 (1980-81). She was a regular on Tsuburaya Productions' Time of the Apes (1974-75) as the young girl Yurika. Saito-san is a lovely lady, and I look forward to seeing her again soon.

TIME OF THE APES AND STAR WOLVES! Obscure Tsuburaya Productions Celebrated on Christmas!

Actresses Miyuki Tanigawa (left) and Hiroko Saito (right) pose for pictures. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Today I attended a special Christmas event that focused on some more obscure Tsuburaya Productions TV programs. Episodes of Time of the Apes (1974-75), Ultraman 80 (1980-81), and Star Wolf (1978) were screened, and each featured an appearance by one of our guests. All three episodes were film prints, not DVDs or Blu-rays.

Hiroko Saito reacts to a comment. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Hiroko Saito was one of the guests, and her career touched just about everything that was popular on TV during the '70s. She's appeared in Kamen Rider (1971-73), Kamen Rider V3 (1973-74), Kikaider (1972-73), Inazuman (1973-74), and Ultraman 80. She was a regular on Time of the Apes as the young girl Yurika.

Miyuki Tanigawa listens to a question. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Our other guest was Miyuki Tanigawa, who is best known for playing Hime on the TV series Star Wolf. Star Wolf was later edited by Sandy Frank into Fugitive Alien and Star Force, both of which were eventually lampooned on MST3K. I told Tanigawa-san about the Sandy Frank edits but decided against mentioning anything about the Satellite of Love.

It was a lot of fun to meet these two actresses -- on Christmas, no less. Shortly after the screenings, Saito-san left, but Tanigawa-san stayed for the dinner portion. Tanigawa-san was quite friendly and a lot of fun to converse with.

Tanigawa-san's birthday was on December 15, and given the occasion, a birthday cake was prepared for her. Not just any cake, mind you -- a Shin Godzilla cake! The photo above captures the moment she blew out the candles.

And there you have it! A very nice Christmas celebration with two heroines from Tsuburaya Productions.