TAC IS BACK! With Actor Shunichi Okita!

With actor Shunichi Okita.

On March 10, I paid another visit to the bar owned by actor Shunichi Okita. Okita-san portrayed TAC member Ichiro Yamanaka in Ultraman Ace (1972-73), but prior to his signature role, Okita-san began as a Nikkatsu actor. He appears in the highly acclaimed crime thriller Tokyo Drifter (1966) and later appeared in a couple of Kihachi Okamoto films at Toho: Red Lion (1969) and Battle of Okinawa (1971).

It was, naturally, great to spend the evening with Okita-san. I look forward to stopping by his establishment again soon.

SHUNICHI OKITA IS BACK! The Ultraman Ace Hero Keeps an Eye on Tokyo!

Yours truly with actor Shunichi Okita at his restaurant-bar in Tokyo.

As I hinted at in my previous blog post, there was more to come today! I stopped by actor Shunichi Okita's restaurant-bar in Tokyo and spent some time there. Okita-san played TAC member Ichiro Yamanaka in Ultraman Ace (1972-73), but he was also a Nikkatsu actor prior to that, having appeared in the critically celebrated film Tokyo Drifter (1966), among others. He went on to act in movies produced by Toho, such as Red Lion (1969) and Battle of Okinawa (1971).

It was wonderful to spend some time again with Okita-san, as I hadn't seen him all year. Hopefully, my next visit won't take so long. What a day it was!

LA SHION: Setagaya's Watering Hole for Ultraman!

Near Futako-Tamagawa Station in Setagaya, Tokyo, is a bar owned and operated by actor Shunichi Okita, best known to Western fans as Terrible Monster Attacking Crew (TAC) member Ichiro Yamanaka from Tsuburaya Productions' Ultraman Ace (1972-73). While that is Okita-san's primary tokusatsu credit, he is also known in Japan for being one of Nikkatsu Studios' 1964 New Face actors (as Tsuyoshi Yoshida), working with celebrated director Seijun Suzuki on Tokyo Drifter (1966) and later with Kihachi Okamoto on Battle of Okinawa (1971) at Toho Studios.

So, for those of you who are interested in Japanese entertainment, La Shion is most definitely a place to check out. It's very similar to the now-defunct Kaiju-ya in Shibuya, in that the bar is adorned with pictures, books, autographed shikishi boards, and assorted memorabilia from Okita-san's career. Karaoke is also part of the festivities, and yes, English-language songs are available.

That's me posing with Okita-san. While I wasn't the first foreigner who's ever visited his establishment, I was the first to seek it out specifically because of Okita-san. I was quite pleased to hear that. He's a welcoming and charming gentleman, and it was very cool to meet him. I'll most certainly be back!