DEEP DIVE: Did a Real-Life Scarface Appear in a Toho Tokusatsu Feature?

William Tapia as Commander Webb in Sayonara Jupiter. Sayonara Jupiter © 1984, Toho Co., Ltd. 

In all the years I've researched the personalities involved with various tokusatsu works, I've never encountered a case as strange and unusual as that of William Manuel Tapia Alemán. William Tapia appears as Webb, chairman of the Solar System Development Organization (SSDO) in the Toho science-fiction epic Sayonara Jupiter (1984). He is also credited as "Capitan" in Shohei Imamura's Why Not? (1981).

However, what sets him apart from all the other foreigners who starred in Japanese SFX films is his dramatic fall from grace, as well as his meteoric rise back to prominence after the dust had settled. It's a story with a lot of twists and turns, but let's get started.

On July 18, 1990, The New York Times published this story, which broke the news to most folks around the world:

A Nicaraguan diplomat in Tokyo was arrested there yesterday on United States charges that he took part in a plot to smuggle millions of dollars of heroin into New York City.

Federal officials in New York announced the arrest of William Tapia, who was the counselor of the Nicaraguan Embassy in Tokyo. He was arrested by the Japanese authorities, acting on a request from Washington.

Mr. Tapia was dismissed from his diplomatic post just before being arrested on charges of arranging for another diplomat to smuggle 125 pounds of heroin from Thailand to New York in 1987. The heroin was said to have a street value of at least $18 million.

Sayonara Jupiter © 1984, Toho Co., Ltd.

A few months later, in October, United Press International (UPI) followed up on it with even more details:

A former Nicaraguan diplomat, described as 'almost a godfather' in the diplomatic community in the Far East, was arraigned Monday on charges he recruited fellow diplomats to smuggle heroin into the United States and Australia.

William Tapia, 47, who has lived in Tokyo for 14 years -- most as a diplomat, and most recently as the second-in-command to the Nicaraguan ambassador there -- was charged in U.S. District Court on seven counts of heroin trafficking.

The counts were contained in an indictment unsealed last July. Tapia was arrested July 17 in Tokyo, and has been held there until his extradition to New York on Friday.

The ex-diplomat pleaded not guilty, and a bail hearing was set for Thursday. He was remanded to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan until that time.

The indictment charged that Tapia on two separate occasions between April and November 1987 arranged for a Guatemalan diplomat to smuggle about 125 pounds of heroin from Thailand to New York.

The estimated street value of the 'China White' heroin was about $18 million to $21 million.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cathy Palmer, who is prosecuting the case, said Tapia used his considerable influence in the diplomatic community to recruit 'carriers' of heroin into both the United States and Australia.

'He became almost a godfather in the community,' said Palmer, 'somebody whose advice was often sought.'

Tapia has a Japanese wife and speaks fluent Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and English, she noted.

The way the transportation of the drug would work, Palmer said, is that Chinese heroin marketers would arrange for the drug to be delivered to the diplomats -- who could earn a fee of as much as $400,000 for a load of 40 kilograms simply for taking the drug through customs with their own luggage.

Because of their diplomatic status, the officials were rarely challenged for inspections. 'It was a guaranteed way' to get the drug through customs, Palmer said.

'It isn't subject to challenge.'

Tapia, prosecutors charged, himself carried a load of heroin into Australia using the method.

The usual load for a diplomat to carry would be between 31 to 34 kilograms, or 62 to 70 pounds, Palmer said.

One Guatemalan diplomat, Jorge Rueda, who transported the heroin into New York in April and October 1987 for Tapia was arrested by the Australian National Crime Authority in April 1988 on heroin importation charges, and was subsequently convicted.

He is expected to testify against Tapia, Palmer said, and is cooperating in the case. Other arrests of diplomats involved in the scam are expected, Palmer said.

If convicted on all seven counts of the federal indictment, Tapia faces a possible life term in jail and fines up to $4 million. 

Chairman Webb contemplates whether or not to plead guilty. Sayonara Jupiter © 1984, Toho Co., Ltd. 

About a year later, on September 11, 1991, The New York Times reported on Tapia's guilty plea:

A former Nicaraguan diplomat pleaded guilty in Brooklyn yesterday to Federal charges of aiding and abetting the importing of heroin, according to Federal authorities.

The defendant, William Tapia, was arrested last year in Tokyo, where he was the counselor of the Nicaraguan Embassy. Mr. Tapia was dismissed from his diplomatic post after Japanese authorities arrested him at the request of the United States. He was charged with taking part in a 1987 scheme to smuggle 125 pounds of heroin from Thailand to New York City.

Judge Eugene H. Nickerson accepted Mr. Tapia's guilty plea in a closed courtroom in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. The judge declined to say why he excluded the public and reporters from the courtroom.

The guilty plea was confirmed by Ann Driscoll, public information officer for United States Attorney Andrew J. Maloney. She said Mr. Tapia, who has been held in custody since his arrest, faced a sentence of 5 to 40 years in prison.

Two months after Tapia entered his guilty plea, future FBI director Robert S. Mueller, then assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, gave a statement on November 6 before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Governmental Affairs, regarding Asian organized crime. According to his prepared remarks, Mueller testified:

In early 1990, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York obtained an indictment in Brooklyn on heroin trafficking charges against William Tapia, a senior Nicaraguan diplomat assigned to the Nicaraguan Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, in United States v. William Tapia. Tapia was accused of recruiting and using other diplomats to smuggle large quantities of heroin from Asia into the United States. On July 17, 1990, immediately after the Government of Nicaragua removed Tapia from his diplomatic post, the Japanese Government executed a U.S. request for his provisional arrest pursuant to the U.S.-Japan Extradition Treaty. Tapia was successfully extradited to the United States in October 1990, and on September 10, 1991, he pleaded guilty to a heroin importation charge. Tapia faces between 5 and 40 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $2 million. 

This important blow against the abuse of diplomatic status in furtherance of narcotics trafficking could not have been delivered absent the outstanding cooperation of Japanese law enforcement authorities. In addition, the United States received significant cooperation in this case from Hong Kong and Australia.

So, as you can see, the Bush Justice Department was riding high on the fact that it was cracking down on Sayonara Jupiter cast members. But was all as it seemed? Well, this is where stories in the American press begin to fade, and we have to turn to Nicaraguan media to pick up the slack. 

Before we proceed, you should probably bear in mind that, according to many estimates, Nicaragua is one of the least democratic countries in Latin America, so it might be best to take some of these local news reports with a grain of salt. With that in mind, let's proceed.

Sayonara Jupiter © 1984, Toho Co., Ltd.

On February 26, 2008, the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa published an exhaustive story about Tapia and his legal woes. Excerpts are contained below and have been translated into English using machine translations: 

Tapia Alemán was arrested in Tokyo on July 17, 1990 by the United States Government, accused of trafficking drugs from Thailand to New York and working with a Hong Kong mafia syndicate that recruited other diplomats for drug trafficking.

The Japanese mafia allegedly took advantage of the officials' immunity and the fact that they were exempt from having their personnel checked, in which they were estimated to be carrying an average of 28 to 32 kilograms of heroin.

The story continues:

News reports at the time said the charge was being pushed by the DEA, with support from other anti-narcotics departments in Australia, Hong Kong and the United Nations.

The news of Tapia Alemán's capture became known ten days later, making the front pages of the national newspapers of the time.

In October 1990, Japan agreed to extradite Tapia to the United States. The then foreign minister of the republic, Enrique Dreyfus, told the media that "both the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry and the Japanese government have conclusive evidence of Tapia's participation in international drug trafficking," but that this evidence was not revealed so as not to affect the progress of the trial.

Furthermore:

The reports revealed that the US and Japanese authorities had been following Tapia since 1986, when it was suspected that he brought drugs to New York on behalf of the Japanese mafia cartel.

In addition, in 1988, a Guatemalan diplomat identified as Jorge Rueda was arrested in Australia and sentenced to sixteen years in prison for drug trafficking, and his defense declared that Tapia Alemán was his "contact."

While in prison, Tapia told the media that he suspected someone had stolen his passport to travel, because he had not left Japan on the date he was accused of.

In addition:

However, the next note of the case appears a year later, in September 1992, in the newspaper Barricada, according to which Tapia was declared innocent and would be released in ten months to return to Masatepe, his hometown, or to Japan, where he had married Hisako Susuki [sic] and had two daughters.

Additionally:

Tapia Alemán arrived in Japan as cultural attaché at the Nicaraguan Embassy in 1968, during the government of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. He resigned in 1979, but returned to the Embassy in 1986, serving as first secretary of the Embassy, a position he held before being stripped of his immunity and arrested. 

A January 28, 2021, story from the same newspaper covers much of the same ground, including this tidbit:

In 2000, Tapia was a candidate for mayor of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in Masatepe, but his diplomatic career in Japan was what his opponents used to make him lose.

You may be wondering why the Nicaraguan press was digging into a story from the late 1980s and early '90s in the year 2008 and beyond. That's because he had been appointed ambassador to Taiwan on November 21, 2007. Yes, that's right; after all that legal turmoil, which included a guilty plea, he became the country's official ambassador to Taiwan.

It seems that his previous legal troubles weren't much of an issue for his appointment. The same story reports:

Since the weekend, LA PRENSA has tried to obtain a version of events from the Foreign Minister, Samuel Santos, but it was impossible to locate him through his cell phone or the Press Office, which handles requests.

Foreign Ministry representative Vilma Aburto said she would try to obtain an official version from the foreign minister, but that he would be in a meeting "all day."

However, he said that when Tapia Alemán was appointed, Santos was consulted on the matter, but he said that he "was an excellent person, that he had not received any (bad) references (from Tapia) and that the Government (of China Taiwan) did not deny the approval."

William Tapia, circa 2016. Photo © Contact Taiwan.

According to this July 23, 2020, article in Confidencial, Tapia was removed from his post as ambassador after holding the post for roughly 13 years, though it is unclear why. Taiwan News Formosa TV suggests that it might have been because Tapia was too pro-Taiwan and that the Nicaraguan regime was looking for a change in policy.

  

William Tapia can be seen in this Contact Taiwan video below during his time as Nicaragua's ambassador to Taiwan:

So what do you think? Is this a real-life Scarface, or was he simply a victim of the machinations of the yakuza? In either case, it's fascinating to know that one of the main cast members of Sayonara Jupiter has led such a life. After reading all this, who would dare say the movie is boring?!

Simon Pegg, Cultural Appropriation, and Godzilla

"Thanks, Hollywood!" sez the Hotel Gracery's Godzilla head in April 2015. Photo by Brett Homenick.

If you're reading this, then you're more than likely aware of the recent brouhaha surrounding Simon Pegg and his recent comments regarding Godzilla Minus One (2023), the American-produced MonsterVerse movies, and cultural appropriation. Of course, this isn't a political blog, and it's going to stay that way, but I can't address this topic without reflecting a bit on that particular social issue. However, the thrust of this blog post is a response to certain folks who seemingly know nothing about Japan or Godzilla yet feel compelled to speak on their behalf.

Before we begin, I just have to ask: Should we consider that Toho itself has made King Kong, Frankenstein, and Hammer-inspired vampire movies? Would these be examples of cultural appropriation? If not, why not? Should writer-director Kazuki Omori get publicly chided for introducing elements borrowed from Hollywood blockbusters into the Godzilla series? More to the point, how about that recent Godzilla flick that ripped off Steven Spielberg movies so shamelessly that the director of said flick thought that Spielberg would get angry with him over it? Where's the outrage? Why hasn't anyone called in the Twitter Mob yet?

I lived in Japan for 13 years and in Tokyo proper for 10. During that time, I talked to a lot of Japanese people -- both in and out of the film industry -- and became quite familiar with their way of thinking. I also personally saw the dramatic change that the Godzilla franchise underwent in Japan as it happened in real time in the mid-2010s. But let's circle back to the beginning.

When I first moved to Japan in 2011, Godzilla was nowhere to be found. Unless you knew what collectible shops happened to carry Godzilla items, or you knew which promoters or organizations hosted tokusatsu-themed events for die-hard fans, you were about as likely to find something Godzilla-related in Japan as you are to walk down Hollywood Boulevard today and find a whole bunch of Night Gallery memorabilia. 

But one incident in particular changed all that for good -- the release of Legendary Pictures' Godzilla in 2014. Say what you will about that film -- and I have very little positive to say about it -- but it put Godzilla back on the map as an international property that could draw hundreds of millions of dollars at the worldwide box office and even earn a bit of critical praise along the way. (It also had the added benefit of giving a hungry Bryan Cranston enough scenery to chew to satiate his appetite until his Oscar-nominated performance in Trumbo the following year.)

In the wake of the film's release, Godzilla suddenly became a priority for Toho again -- a new, massive Godzilla mural was painted on the side of a studio wall, the Godzilla head was erected in the terrace of Shinjuku's recently-opened Hotel Gracery, and more Godzilla-related events and exhibitions started to pop up all over the place. Shin Godzilla (2016), a big-budget, homegrown Godzilla outing, was also released. The Godzilla Store opened its doors shortly thereafter. None of this existed, or was even thought possible, before 2014.

The ongoing success of the international franchise ensured that Takashi Yamazaki could make his VFX-laden Godzilla the Ride short film and -- yes, you guessed it -- Godzilla Minus One. If the MonsterVerse films were examples of cultural appropriation, Toho certainly wasn't seeing any downside.

If it isn't clear yet, I should point out that Godzilla as a character and franchise had zero cultural relevance in Japan by the time I'd arrived in the country. (Of course, I'd been hearing the same from others who'd traveled or lived in Japan since at least the early 2000s, but for our purposes I'll stick to what I saw firsthand.) 

TV-oriented tokusatsu franchises like Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and Ultraman were all the rage with children, and Godzilla simply didn't exist for them. Adults too paid little attention to the King of the Monsters, with only the hardcore otaku types turning out for events or buying any merchandise. Is it even possible to "appropriate" that which is culturally irrelevant?

OK, now I have to ask a fairly obvious question to anyone who is complaining about the alleged cultural appropriation here: Have you talked to a Japanese person? 

Chances are you haven't, but I have, and you might be surprised how they feel. To illustrate this point, let's switch from Godzilla to Japan's other cinematic heavyweight -- Akira Kurosawa. When I was teaching in Japan, one of my students was named Takashi (though he didn't carry a plastic toy with him everywhere he went). He was a businessman fluent in English who also often worked with Japan's national government on a variety of projects. I enjoyed speaking with him and getting his perspective on a myriad of topics. 

In 2019, we were talking about movies, and I decided to show him what the BBC had recently named as the best foreign-language film of all time, thinking he would get a kick out of it or perhaps even feel a bit of pride. When he saw Seven Samurai (1954) listed in the top spot, his reaction was (as close as I can come to an exact quote all these years later), "What?! But they're not even elite samurai!"

Despite what you may think, that's not surprising for a culture in which even Toshiro Mifune, often hailed as Japan's greatest actor (by those outside Japan), is largely forgotten (while Mifune's contemporaries Ken Takakura and Kiyoshi Atsumi still enjoy a modicum of cultural relevance). Maybe Hollywood ought to step in and make a Mifune biopic in order to bring him back to worldwide prominence, but, after reading all this nonsense about the MonsterVerse, I think we know how that would go down.

Western interpretations of Japanese cinema can be a lot of fun to read, and they can add new perspectives to movies that the filmmakers likely never even considered. But it's probably fair to say that Godzilla is still more culturally relevant in America even today than it is in Japan (which was certainly true prior to 2015). If you're relying on Western interpretations by Americans who only know Japan through the movies to explain how the Japanese relate to anything, you're missing some much-needed context.

A day or so before Shin Godzilla came out, I happened to walk past a group of businessmen at a restaurant who were talking (and laughing!) about the film's upcoming release. After it came out, an adolescent student of mine, who enjoyed the film, told me he liked seeing the familiar Tokyo locations in the context of a monster movie. Takashi, whom I mentioned above, also liked Shin but mostly as a criticism of the bureaucratic nature of the national government, which was a topic in which he was particularly interested. These are just a few anecdotes, but you'll note the lack of World War II symbolism. Honestly, I never encountered a single Japanese person who related to Godzilla as anything other than a movie monster. (But that's Western over-analysis of Godzilla '54 for you.)

Overall, I think it's great for people to be influenced by other cultures. Japan has loved Hollywood movies for decades, so good luck trying to get Japanese filmmakers not to be inspired by American movies. I have no idea where the notion that cultures must remain completely separate from each other came from, but let's help it find its way to the nearest circular file where it belongs.

Just to be clear, I'm not "calling out" anyone in particular. While Pegg's MonsterVerse comments were the driving force that motivated me to write this post, it can apply just as easily to anyone who buys up every Criterion release of a Japanese movie and therefore thinks he/she is an expert on all things Japanese. Sometimes it helps to know the things you don't know.

Classical Pianist Fujiko Hemming Passes Away at Age 92

Fujiko Hemming in June 2017. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Famed pianist Fujiko Hemming passed away on April 21 of pancreatic cancer. She was 92. A private funeral has already been held by her family.

The older sister of prolific tokusatsu actor Ulf Otsuki, Fujiko Hemming was born on December 5, 1931, in Berlin and achieved fame and success not just in Japan but also in Europe and the United States. While she had been performing as a pianist since the 1950s, it wasn't until a February 1999 NHK documentary on her life and career called Fujiko: The Trajectory of a Pianist was broadcast that she became famous in Japan, which led to the release of her hit classical-music album La Campanella in August of that year. She became so well known that she even performed at Carnegie Hall in June 2001.

Fujiko Hemming in June 2017. Photo by Brett Homenick.

In fact, she may actually have been the most famous person I've ever met in Japan. I knew people in Japan who had no idea who Toshiro Mifune was, but everyone seems to know Fujiko Hemming. 

With Fujiko Hemming and actress Kikuko Nishikawa (left).

The first time I met her was in May 2012 at the cafe owned by her brother Ulf. She came to the cafe for reasons I don't remember, but I was able to give her flowers, to which he told me that she'd always wanted to marry an American.

I interviewed Kumi Mizuno the next day (as I recall) in the same cafe. There was a room above the cafe where Fujiko sometimes practiced the piano. After the interview, Fujiko started practicing again, and, even though you could only hear her music and not actually see her perform, Ms. Mizuno and her manager hung around for a while listening to her performance, while Ms. Mizuno's manager took photos of the room in which Fujiko was performing.

With Fujiko Hemming in June 2017.

Through Ulf, I was able to attend two of her performances at the Sumida Triphony Hall -- one in June 2015 and the other in June 2017. During the 2017 performance, Ulf invited me to sit on the stage (off to the side, of course) while she performed in what I assume was a sold-out concert hall. I didn't want to do it, but Ulf insisted, so I did. It was pretty awkward having an entire concert hall looking at you while the most famous pianist in the country was performing, but it also makes for a fun story to tell.

The last time I saw Ulf  before he passed away was also because of Fujiko. She was holding a concert in June 2019, and Ulf, who had suffered a massive stroke the previous year, wanted to attend, so his family needed me to help. By the time I arrived at Ulf's home, the family had decided Ulf shouldn't attend because it was raining, so we just hung out and watched movies. Ulf would pass away the next year.

My meetings with Fujiko were always brief, so I don't have many other anecdotes to share, but, given her level of popularity in Japan, that was expected.

According to news reports, Fujiko fell at her home in November of last year, which caused her to cancel all future performances. She was then diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March while undergoing treatment for the fall, which would end up taking her life the following month.

Rest in peace, Fujiko.

UPDATE (May 1, 2024): Fujiko's birth year was previously listed as 1932, but Japanese Wikipedia has updated it as actually being 1931, citing a book as its source. Since it's consistent with her age being 92 years old at the time of her passing, I've updated this blog post with 1931 as her birth year.

See You Later, Japan!

One last look at the old neighborhood. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Well, folks, my 13-year journey in Japan has officially come to an end. I'm writing this blog post back home in the good ol' USA. It's still hard to believe it's over, but I'm looking forward to new adventures and opportunities. Needless to say, I truly enjoyed my time in Japan, especially my 10 years in Tokyo. 

Of course, I still plan to update the blog whenever I have something relevant to share, but suffice it to say that content will be noticeably different going forward. (I mean, it's not like I can do any more firsthand reporting from Japan.) I'm also guessing that I won't be posting nearly as often as I did in the Land of the Rising Sun, but that remains to be seen. 

However, I do believe some cool things will be in store, so stay tuned for that. In any case, it was an incredible run, and, if you followed the blog during those years, I'd like to thank you for your attention. Glad I could share the fun times with an audience.

As for Japan, don't worry, folks. I'll come back ... someday!

Viewing the Cherry Blossoms Along Meguro River!

In between Kyoko Ifukube (right) and her friend Akiyo.

On my last full day in Japan (Saturday, March 30), I met with Kyoko Ifukube and her friend Akiyo. We met at a Saizeriya restaurant in Nakameguro and then proceeded to view the cherry blossoms (well, what little there were at the time) along Meguro River. The evening lasted about two hours and was a lot of fun. I hope we can meet again in the near future!

An Afternoon with a Member of Japan's Greatest Musical Family!

Kyoko Ifukube. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today (Tuesday, February 6), I spent a nice afternoon with Kyoko Ifukube (composer Akira Ifukube's daughter) and a couple of her friends. We arranged this meeting last week via our group chat on a Japanese messaging app, but, yesterday, Tokyo experienced a massive snowstorm (which even gave us some thunder!) that put our plans in doubt, especially since Ifukube-san lives quite far from Tokyo in Chiba Prefecture. However, I got contacted by one of Ifukube-san's friends first thing this morning, confirming that we were still on. Thankfully, most of the snow had already melted.

Our group at Saizeriya.

We met at Nakameguro Station at 11:15 and went to a nearby yakiniku restaurant. My plan was to eat as little as possible (I usually don't eat lunch), but that was easier sad than done. My plans were foiled even further when we made our way to a Saizeriya restaurant and ordered dessert. I had a slice of chocolate cake. Oh, well. It's not like I eat this much every day!

With Kyoko Ifukube inside Saizeriya.

Scheduling this meet-up was a little tricky, as Ifukube-san and one of her friends will be taking separate trips to Europe next month, so this was the best time for us to get together before then. It was a great afternoon, and I was surprised by how quickly time passed. Before I knew it, it was almost three o'clock! Unfortunately, I had to go back to work. 

And that's a wrap! What a lovely day it was!

Out and About in Shinjuku!

Shinjuku. Photo by Brett Homenick.

 

Yesterday (Thursday, January 18), I stopped by Shinjuku while running errands. I saw some cool sights, so I decided to snap a few photos. Enjoy!

Another End-of-the-Year Gathering in Tokyo!

Kyoko Ifukube. Photo by Brett Homenick.

This afternoon (Tuesday, December 19), I had an end-of-the-year lunch with Akira Ifukube's daughter, Kyoko, and two of her friends. We met near my work and went to have a steak lunch (which, by the way, was really good!). After that, we had coffee at Starbucks down the street until it was time for me to go back to work. Overall, we hung out for about two and a half hours. 

It probably won't surprise you that the talk about Godzilla and other such topics was very brief, and we mostly talked about everyday topics, like cooking. These end-of-the-year get-togethers are pretty common in Japan, so December tends to be a busy month for the people here. Suffice it to say, it was a fun afternoon with a lot of laughs. Can't wait to do it again!

Out and About in Hibiya!

Yesterday (Saturday, November 4), my friend Jacob and I walked around Hibiya and the surrounding area. Our travels took us to Toho Cinemas Hibiya (with the classic Godzilla statue), Hibiya Chanter, and various other locations. I even found a new Godzilla Minus One (2023) advertisement in the basement of Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, which you can see at the very bottom of the blog post. Enjoy!

Going Ape at the Gorilla Building!

The Gorilla Building. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier this evening (Friday, November 3), I took my friend Jacob to see the Gorilla Building in Sangenjaya. It was my first time to see it after dark, so I wasn't sure how well it would be illuminated. While there are no lights that are specifically designed to keep it illuminated, it was easily visible in the night sky, which was a relief to see. As usual, I took a variety of shots, and here they are. Enjoy!