GODZILLA'S SCREENWRITER SPEAKS! Wataru Mimura Interview on VPI!

Heisei and Millennium Godzilla series screenwriter Wataru Mimura poses for a photo in Shibuya. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I have posted my interview with Wataru Mimura on Vantage Point Interviews, so be sure to stop by and give it a look! It was conducted in 2008, but it provides a rare glimpse into the creative process of making Godzilla movies.

I had coffee with Mimura-san today, and we discussed posting his interview on my site. He readily agreed. To read the interview, follow this link.

MORE GODZILLA'S REVENGE FILMING LOCATIONS! The Opening Scene's Footbridge Has Been Found!

The Hamacho footbridge in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, the location for opening sequences in Godzilla's Revenge (1969). Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today I visited another filming location used in Godzilla's Revenge, and it is used in arguably the most scene in the entire movie. At the beginning of the film, Ichiro and his friend are crossing a footbridge when they hear the screeching of a car that's making a sharp turn. Ichiro compares the sound to Minya's cry, and the rest is history.

The location is the Hamacho footbridge in Kawasaki, about a 10-minute walk from Hama-Kawasaki Station. It was instantly recognizable as the filming location for Godzilla's Revenge. I walked around the bridge and snapped several photos, and I must say it was very cool to walk around such an iconic location (to us Godzilla fans, at least).

The bridge itself has not fared so well over the years, as it was rather dirty and seemed to be falling apart. But I guess that's in keeping with the theme of the movie itself.

But that's not all! Just down the road from the Hamacho footbridge is Kanagawa Prefectural Road 101, which was also seen in the opening of Godzilla's Revenge! So you get two locations for the price of one!

GODZILLA'S REVENGE FILMING LOCATION! Photos from the Actual Rail Yard Seen in the Film!

The rail yard as seen in Godzilla's Revenge (1969), which still exists today. Photo by Brett Homenick.

While perhaps not one of the more popular entries in the series, Godzilla's Revenge (a.k.a. All Monsters Attack, 1969) boasts a few memorable locations. As they are so integral to the look and feel of the film, the sprawling railroad tracks and towering smokestacks usually stand out in the mind of anyone who watches it.

The rail yard is called Kawasaki Kamotsu Station, and all these decades later, it still exists in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. But don't let the fact that it's a train station in Japan mislead you -- this station's for freight trains only. Actually, it's quite a distance from the nearest commuter train station (Kawasaki Station), so I would not recommend going there on foot. I took a taxi to the location and hopped on a bus bound for Kawasaki Station on the way back.

The rail yard itself seems to have changed very little since 1969, although the surrounding area does not seem to have fared so well. Most of the empty fields seen in the film have been replaced by even more buildings and assorted clutter. What's more, the billboard that comes into play toward the end of the movie seems to have been removed. (At least it wasn't apparent in the places I looked.)

I should also point out that this rail yard was easily the scariest place I've visited in Japan. It seems a small shantytown was set up next to the tracks, and while at first I decided to walk along it in order to see if I could spot some specific locations from the movie, I quickly decided that was a bad idea and turned around. That said, Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, so I must say it was only "scary" by Japan standards. If you're planning to check out this location for yourself, though, forewarned is forearmed.

The day I visited was pretty dreary, and it was lightly raining as I walked around, which made it rather unpleasant to trudge my way through. Still, it was a fascinating experience, and it's always great to walk through an actual location used in the Godzilla series (as opposed to, say, famous landmarks like Tokyo Tower which are usually just recreated as miniatures in the films).

I plan to visit even more locations in the coming weeks and months, so keep it here for further updates.

NEW INTERVIEWS POSTED! Vantage Point Interviews Update!

Actress Yukie Kagawa talks about her career in tokusatsu. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Several new interviews have been posted at Vantage Point Interviews. First, actress Rachel Huggett reminisces about her starring role in the ambitious Toho sci-fi epic Sayonara Jupiter (1984).

Next, actress Yukie Kagawa recalls working for multiple Japanese studios in everything from the Showa Gamera series to Super Sentai at Toei.

Actor Shinichi Yanagisawa shares his acting memories. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Finally, actor Shinichi Yanagisawa discusses his acting career at length in an interview with many rare photos. Yanagisawa-san is best known as Miyamoto from The X from Outer Space (1967).

More interviews to come -- stay tuned!

GODZILLA VS. MEGALON FILMING LOCATION! You Too Can Visit This Familiar Area!

Look familiar? The name of this place probably won't ring any bells, but a few of these pictures should! Photo by Brett Homenick.

Tsukushino Park Road (near Tsukushino Station) in Machida, Tokyo, is not a familiar location to most Godzilla fans, but that might be about to change. It was the location of the scene in Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) in which actors Yutaka Hayashi and Hiroyuki Kawase ride up on their motorcycle in search of a model fighter plane.

Well, the specific shop they entered may no longer exist, but the rest of the location does! It's called Tsukushino Park Road, and it's about a three-minute walk from Tsukushino Station. It looks more or less as it does in the film more than 40 years later, though there are a few differences. All in all, I was surprised by how little it had changed in all that time.

I'm more more such excursions in the future, exploring some rarely discussed locations used in some Showa-era films (instead of the usual haunts, like Tokyo Tower, that you can read all about by doing a simple Google search). Watch this space for further entries!

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS CONTINUE! Catching Up with Another Old Friend!

Ulf Otsuki poses in front of some mini sakura. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today I paid a visit to Ulf Otsuki's home and spent the day with him. Ulf is an actor who has appeared in numerous tokusatsu films and TV programs, including Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) and, most recently, episode 17 of Kamen Rider Drive (2014-15). 

Ulf showed me one of his more obscure movie roles, that of a Russian military officer in Toshio Masuda's all-star war film 203 Kochi (1980), produced by Toei Studios. This was most certainly a highlight of the day!

Afterward, we enjoyed a great Italian dinner at a nearby restaurant. Suffice it to say, fun times were had by all. Plans for the future are being cooked up as I type this, so stay tuned for further developments!

KING KONG APPEARS IN KAMAKURA! A Rare Japanese Kong Photo Surfaces!

On the way back to Skull Island, King Kong took a little-known vacation in Japan in the mid-1930s. Photo © Shigeo Kato.

One of the birthday gifts actor Shigeo Kato (Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Godzilla vs. the Thing, etc.) gave me was this photo of a 14-meter King Kong statue in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan. The date listed on the back of the photo is July 8, 1934, and it was built just after the original King Kong was released in Japan.

Naturally, this Kong statue no longer exists in Kamakura, but given the mystery surrounding the lost Japanese Kong films of the 1930s, it is an interesting curiosity. Japan truly went Kong Crazy in the wake of RKO's 1933 classic!