An Evening in the Village with a Village Singer!

Kazuomi Sasai. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After meeting up with Yamamoto-san today (Monday, March 25), I made my way over to Ningyocho Station to meet with Kazuomi Sasai, a member of the Village Singers. If Sasai-san seems a bit familiar to you, that's because he should be. We met just a few days ago.

I figured that meeting with Sasai-san would be the only one before leaving the country. But then the next day Sasai-san messaged me and offered to meet me again on either the 25th or 26th at Futako-tamagawa, a train station near my home.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive this offer, and I eagerly accepted. A few days later, I asked Sasai-san to tweak the schedule, as I would be coming a bit closer to Sasai-san's home, and it would fit perfectly in my schedule. Sasai-san accepted my proposal, and we met as planned.

Sasai-san wasn't too familiar with the area and asked where I wanted to go. Coincidentally, there was a big advertisement for a burger shop called Brozers' near the exit where Sasai-san was waiting, which looked pretty enticing. 

Inside Brozers'. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I pointed it out to Sasai-san, but, when he asked me if I knew where it was, I admitted that I didn't. So Sasai-san took out his phone and called the establishment. They gave him directions, and off we went.

We were looking for a police station, at which we were supposed to turn right, but the police station never appeared. Sasai-san asked a random shop employee where it was, and he found out it was in the opposite direction. So we had to change direction and try again. 

Ultimately, we found the police station, so Sasai-san called back to get the rest of the directions. Thankfully, the restaurant was basically a stone's throw from the police station, so we got there without further incident. 

I was quite amused by the layout of the restaurant. All the posters on display had a "brother" theme to them. When I pointed out the Blues Brothers poster to Sasai-san, he mentioned that one of the pair was dead. 

While we were there, I asked Sasai-san about the Village Singers' performance of "The Midnight Special." It wasn't performed in the 1960s or '70s but sometime in the 2000s. I still would have loved to  have seen it, though.

The Iron Claw is going to get delivered to you ... in burger form. Photo by Brett Homenick.

We also spent a great deal of time talking about California. He loves the beaches in the L.A. area and remembers the names of many of them. He especially loves Laguna Beach. We talked about California, as well as my family. It was a great discussion. 

Sasai-san expressed interest in visiting California again, and of course I encouraged him to come. I insisted on paying for our dinner, and then we walked back to the station. Sasai-san and I will stay in touch, and hopefully we will meet again in the near future. 

A Visit with a 1960s-Era Musician and Actor!

Kazuomi Sasai with a signed copy of Ring of Memories (1968). Photo by Brett Homenick.

 

On Friday, March 15, I had the distinct privilege of spending an afternoon with actor and musician Kazuomi Sasai (born November 12, 1944), a member of the 1960s musical group Village Singers. He served as the bassist for the band for about three and a half years. According to Japanese Wikipedia, he left the group in 1969 but eventually rejoined the group in 2002. 

Notably, he is the son of film producer Hideo Sasai, who was most closely associated with Nikkatsu, but has also produced films at Toho and Shochiku.

Kazuomi Sasai with a signed copy of Lemon in the Rainbow (1968). Photo by Brett Homenick.

I'd met only one member of the band before this -- Yutaka Hayashi. I have to admit that my interest in the Village Singers is more related to their movie appearances in the 1960s rather than their music, but both are still intriguing to me. 

In fact, I brought two DVDs with me for Sasai-san to sign -- Ring of Memories (1968) and Lemon in the Rainbow (1968). Both films, in which the Village Singers more or less play themselves, were produced by Shochiku. 

Kazuomi Sasai in Toyosu. Photo by Brett Homenick.

We met near Toyosu Station and made our way to a nearby Starbucks. I got a hot chocolate, and Sasai-san got a coffee. We discussed numerous topics. Sasai-san hasn't seen Godzilla Minus One (2023) but is aware of the success it's had around the world. 

Sasai-san also told me that his favorite type of movies are suspense ones, like the works of Alfred Hitchcock.

When I asked him if he liked The Beatles, Sasai-san mentioned he prefers The Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival. I share that opinion, so I asked Sasai-san if he knew the CCR song "The Midnight Special." I was surprised to hear that his band had actually performed it once. When I asked if there was a recording of it, he said it was just a live performance and not included on any album. Ah, well.

When I originally made plans with Sasai-san, I budgeted about two hours, though I was confident I wouldn't need that much time. To my surprise, we actually did! We hung out for the entire two hours. After Starbucks, we moved on to Hama-sushi, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, where I ate a bowl of ramen.

As we were leaving the sushi restaurant, Sasai-san listed many Southern California towns, even pointing out that former President Nixon used to live there. 

After I got home, I found another message from Sasai-san, offering to get together much closer to me in the next couple of weeks. Of course, I'd love to do that! It was great to meet him, and I look forward to meeting him again very soon.