Meeting a Daiei Actress!

 Keiko Takahashi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Tonight, I was fortunate to attend a special event with actress Keiko Takahashi (nee Keiko Sekine). Born on January 22, 1955, Takahashi-san made her acting debut in 1970 at Daiei Studios. Takahashi-san has a variety of credits, including co-starring with Masaaki Daimon in Yasuzo Masumura's Play (1971), starring in Snow Country Elegy (1971), directed by the Gamera series' Noriaki Yuasa and written by Niisan Takahashi, appearing in Kei Kumai's Rise, Fair Sun (1973), co-starring with Masao Kusakari in Toho's Kanda River (1974), and acting in Masumura's thriller Dynamic Islands (1975). She was a regular on the hit TV program Howl at the Sun! (1972-86) as Shinko Uchida.

I'd never met Takahashi-san before, but what really surprised me was how excited a number of attendees were to meet her. One even had tears in his eyes at the end of the evening! I was glad to talk to her about Dynamic Islands, which I saw a few years ago and quite enjoyed. I wish I'd asked her about Noriaki Yuasa, but maybe next time.

All in all, it was a fun evening.

SHIGEO KATO TELLS HIS STORIES! The Ubiquitous Toho Extra Regales Us with His Memories!

Actor Shigeo Kato is all smiles as he remembers his days working as an extra in Toho films. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On February 8, my friend Yasushi and I had the privilege of paying visit to Shiego Kato. Kato-san is a retired actor who lives in Kamakura, and his filmography is absolutely amazing. From Ikiru (1952) to Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971), from Seven Samurai (1954) to Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000), Kato-san has just about seen and done it all in the Japanese film industry.

Since I was accompanied by Yasushi, I finally had a chance to find out more about Kato-san's life and career. It wasn't an interview per se, but I did take notes on the conversation, and I hope eventually that an article will come of it. Before that happens, I'd like to have more conversations with Kato-san. He is one of the most fascinating people I've ever met!

When we met, I gave Kato-san a copy of his filmography from Japanese Wikipedia. He told me that it was the first time he'd ever seen his filmography. Naturally, he spent a great deal of time studying it. Surprisingly, Kato-san gave me three DVDs of movies he made in the 1970s. All three were directed by Yasuzo Masumura (director of Blind Beast), and all three are decidedly non-tokusatsu. I've watched one movie so far, which is Domyaku Retto (1975), which is a similar story to Toei's Bullet Train (1975) but more of an adult drama.

All in all, we had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to see Kato-san again!