It's a Toku Blackout!

Eiichi Asada and Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier tonight (Sunday, June 18), I attended another event with Eiichi Asada and Takashi Naganuma. Asada-san was wearing the crew jacket he got while working on Tokyo Blackout (1987), which was cool to see. Not much else to say, so let's check out the highlights. 

Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Eiichi Asada. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After the After-Party!

 Hiroyasu Yamaura. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Even though I completely missed the performance, I was pleased to be invited to the after-party of a Christmas show written by Hiroyasu Yamaura. The group was small (there were only six of us), and we had dinner for an hour and a half. It was a traditional Japanese dinner, and it was quite delicious. 

The conversation was lively and often hilarious. I had a great time with Yamaura-san and the others and can't wait to see him again. Hopefully, I'll be able to actually see his next stage play!

ONE DAY ONLY! Attending a Small Play in Japan!

Hiroyasu Yamaura. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Last Sunday, June 3, I attended a performance written by Hiroyasu Yamaura. The story was about an old woman with dementia who expected her lover to return home, even though he died a long time ago during the war. It was quite a sad and powerful tale.

Despite the grim subject matter, everyone was in a great mood. It's always fun to see Yamaura-san, and I'm glad to see he keeps writing. Bravo!

TOKYO BLACKOUT! Teruyoshi Nakano's Birthday Blowout Features a Screening of This Obscure Sci-Fi Flick!

Teruyoshi Nakano celebrates his 81st birthday. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

October 9, 2016, marked Teruyoshi Nakano's 81st birthday (despite the persistent misinformation in the West that his birthday falls on October 1), and on his birthday, many of Nakano-san's fans gathered to take in a screening of the rather obscure sci-fi epic Tokyo Blackout (1987). 

Model maker Takashi Naganuma discusses his work. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Although it was directed by Toshio Masuda (The Last Days of Planet Earth) and based on a novel by Sakyo Komatsu (Submersion of Japan), the film remains little known outside Japan (and even within Japan!) among tokusatsu fan circles. It's not a bad film by any means, but it's a little slow and has a tendency to be a bit melodramatic. In any case, I enjoyed seeing it in 35mm. I doubt I'll ever have another chance to see it that way!

After the film, its SFX director (and the day's guest of honor) Teruyoshi Nakano discussed his work on the film, and model maker Takashi Naganuma also added his expertise to the proceedings.

After the Q&A session ended, we ate dinner with the guests, and then Nakano-san's birthday cake was brought out. As you'd expect, Nakano-san blew out the candles. No word on what he wished for.

An unexpected treat was a special showing of a TV interview from circa 1981, featuring Teruyoshi Nakano, Tomoyuki Tanaka, and Tsuburaya Productions' Koichi Takano. The trio discussed tokusatsu movies, and at one point Nakano-san was paired with an interesting Godzilla attraction suit that I've never seen before. (Eleking appeared alongside Takano-san for his scenes.) There was also some behind-the-scenes footage taken inside Tsuburaya Productions' office, and in the background was director Noriaki Yuasa, who was working on Ultraman 80. Very cool stuff!

All in all, it was a great day spent in great company. Let's do it again soon!

FORTY YEARS OF MECHAGODZILLA! Celebrating Mecha-G's Major Milestone with Two of His Makers!

SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano signs my Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla DVD sleeve, which has already been signed by a couple of other Toho luminaries. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I just returned from a memorable Mechagodzilla event in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. There were two guests of honor: SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano and screenwriter Hiroyasu Yamaura. Both gentlemen worked together on the genre classic Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2014. However, the pair also worked together on a lesser known sci-fi effort, Tokyo Blackout (1987).

Yours truly poses with an original copy of the Mechagodzilla script with the man (Hiroyasu Yamaura) who wrote it!

I was pleased to add the signature of Nakano-san to my Mechagodzilla DVD sleeve, which has already been signed by Yamaura-san and designer Akihiko Iguchi. I sat next to Yamaura-san for the event, and after speaking with other fans and attendees, Nakano-san joined our table for a discussion.

Lucky me: Sitting between two of the original Mechagodzilla's godfathers.

It was rather cool to have Nakano-san share his memories of Eiji Tsuburaya and then have Yamaura-san translate them to me in English! While Yamaura-san isn't fluent, his English is much better than my Japanese, so he was able to explain some of the stories that were told. For one, Nakano-san said that Eiji Tsuburaya would make his own suits himself! I guess he really loved creating all sorts of things!

It was a great night with great people, honoring a great film. I'm glad to have been a part of it.