New Content at Vantage Point Interviews!

With Yoshinobu Kaneko in May 2013.

Three new interviews are now up on Vantage Point Interviews. The latest one is my May 2013 interview with former child actor Yoshinobu Kaneko, whom you probably know as the little boy eager to catch of glimpse of Godzilla in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). But he's done so much more than that -- even starring in several Taiwanese-made fantasy films!

With Nobuyuki Yasumaru in December 2018.

The next interview is with renowned kaiju suitmaker Nobuyuki Yasumaru. Yasumaru-san goes into great detail to describe the suitmaking process.

With Keizo Murase in April 2019.

And, while we're on the subject of kaiju suitmakers, here's another interview with the legendary Keizo Murase, who describes more of his suitmaking work over the years.

Now you know why content is king at Vantage Point Interviews!

Movie Night, Japanese-Style!

Yoshinobu Kaneko. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday, July 6, I attended a special event with guests Kazuki Omori and Yoshinobu Kaneko.

Kaneko-san would be best known in the U.S. as the young boy in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) who begs his mother to go see Godzilla, only to be told that they're not going to the zoo. He stars in the title role of the Toei fantasy/action film Watari, Ninja Boy (1966) and co-stars as Blue Shadow in the Toei TV series Red Shadow (1967-68) and the movie spin-off Ninja Scope (1969). He also can be seen in episode 15 of Ultraman (1966-67), among numerous other TV and film appearances.

I had a fun time talking about King Kong vs. Godzilla with Kaneko, especially about the differences between the his mother's line in the U.S. and Japanese versions. He was interested to learn that his mother says "zoo" in the American version. Of course, given that he was a young boy at the time, he has few memories of the shoot. But it was fun chatting with him about his acting career when he was a child.

Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The other guest on hand was none other than Heisei Godzilla series screenwriter and director Kazuki Omori. Most folks around Omori-san seemed more interested in discussing various American films instead of Godzilla movies. The discussion of The Godfather Part III was especially amusing, given Omori-san's reactions to Al Pacino's scenery-chewing in the film. 

Overall, it was a very fun night with friendly people. I didn't expect to stay around as long as I did, but it was so much fun that I was in no hurry to leave. Let's do it again soon!

MORE PICS! Hiroyuki Takano's Dinner Party!

Yours truly with Hiroko Saito, Yoshinobu Kaneko, and Hiroyuki Takano.

Hanging out with Yoshinobu Kaneko.

Hiroyuki Takano shows off his cake, celebrating 50 years as an actor.

Make a wish!

Hangin' with Hiroyuki Takano.

With the wonderful and talented Hiroko Saito.

Hey, look! It's Red Shadow and Blue Shadow!

Yoshinobu Kaneko strikes his famous Blue Shadow pose from Red Shadow.

Yoshinobu Kaneko poses for the camera.

50 YEARS AN ACTOR! Hiroyuki Takano Hosts a Stylish Celebration!

Child actors all grown up: Hiroyuki Takano, Hiroko Saito, and Yoshinobu Kaneko. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Last night, I attended a special dinner event as part of a celebration of Hiroyuki Takano's 50th anniversary celebration as an actor. (As you can imagine, he got started very young.) The celebration included two other former child actors: Yoshinobu Kaneko and Hiroko Saito.

With Yoshinobu Kaneko.

Yoshinobu Kaneko was a child actor with a varied career. In the West, Kaneko-san would be best known as the young boy in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) who begs his mother to go see Godzilla, only to be told that they're not going to the zoo. He stars in the title role of the Toei fantasy/action film Watari, Ninja Boy (1966) and co-stars as Blue Shadow in the Toei TV series Red Shadow (1967-68) and the movie spin-off Ninja Scope (1969). He also can be seen in episode 15 of Ultraman (1966-67), among numerous other TV and film appearances. Despite rumors to the contrary, he is not the younger brother of the late child actor Mitsunobu Kaneko, who starred in Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (1967-68). I first met Kaneko-san four years ago and never had a chance to see him again until last night. It was wonderful to see him again.

With Hiroyuki Takano.

Naturally, Hiroyuki Takano was a guest at his own celebration. Among other movie and TV appearances, Takano-san can be seen in Ultra Seven (1967-68), Fight! Mighty Jack (1968), Operation: Mystery (1968-69), Spectreman (1971-72), Return of Ultraman (1971-72), Kamen Rider (1971-73), Silver Mask (1971-72), and Submersion of Japan (1974-75). However, his most notable role was co-starring in the Toei superhero series Barom-1 (1972) as Kentaro Shiratori. It was a blast talking about San Diego and other California locations with him!

With Hiroko Saito.

Hiroko Saito has appeared in Kamen Rider (1971-73), Kamen Rider V3 (1973-74), Kikaider (1972-73), Barom-1, Inazuman (1973-74), Kamen Rider X (1974), Star Wolf (1978), Toei's Spider-Man (1978-79), and Ultraman 80 (1980-81). She was a regular on Tsuburaya Productions' Time of the Apes (1974-75) as the young girl Yurika. Saito-san is a lovely lady, and I look forward to seeing her again soon.

GOLDEN WEEK 3: Tokyo During the Holidays!

Yours truly meets (and hugs!) the legendary composer Riichiro Manabe before Akira Ifukube's 99th birthday concert in Tokyo.

I just returned home from spending Golden Week in Tokyo (my third one so far), and it was an exciting time. The highlight proved to be meeting Riichiro Manabe, whose scores to Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971) and Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) are fan favorites. (Well, among some fans, anyway!) Manabe-sensei is truly a unique individual. More on that meeting in a future blog post.

At a Grissom Gang dinner, my friend Yasushi and I met several Toho alumni, including veteran kaiju suit builder Keizo Murase.

Also on hand was Toho Studios set photographer Takashi Nakao, whose tokusatsu career at Toho dates back to King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) and runs through GMK (2001)! 

The gregarious suit builder Fuyuki Shinada ate with us fans, too, and he had many cool stories to tell.

Through my friend Aizu Shingo, I was able to meet former child star Yoshinobu Kaneko. Kaneko-san was the boy in King Kong vs. Godzilla who wanted to see Godzilla (and was quickly shut down by his mother). He is much better known for his roles in Watari the Ninja Boy (1966) and Red Shadow (1967).

Tokyo Tower -- nuf sed! All in all, it was a great time, made better by all the friends I saw. Many thanks to everyone who helped make it one for the history books!