A Very Toei Evening!

Sayoko Hagiwara. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Right ater work, I headed for Shimo-kitazawa to catch a play featuring two Toei actors: Shinzo Hotta and Sayoko Hagiwara, both of whom I've written about on this blog in the past.

 Shinzo Hotta. Photo by Brett Homenick.

When I entered the venue, I was surprised to see Shinzo Hotta hanging out in the lobby area. That's because I arrived about an hour after the production had started! He seemed to recognize me and then approached me, although he couldn't quite where he remembered me from. When I mentioned the event we last met, he remembered who I was.

As a refresher, Hotta-san's acting roles date back to the mid-1960s at Toei Studios. Among many others, his credits include: Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972), Iron King (1972-73), Ninja Captor (1976-77), and Message from Space: Galactic Wars (1978-79).

Despite having blogged about Sayoko Hagiwara countless times here, I might as well put in a reminder about her, too. Hagiwara-san essayed the role of Ryoko Hoshi, Yullian's human form, on Ultraman 80 (1980-81) from episode 43, as well as Dyna Pink in Dynaman. She also appeared on Flashman as the villain Leh Nafel.

Godzilla Pop Up in Ikebukuro!

Signage outside Godzilla Pop Up in Ikebukuro. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Between March 17 and March 26, a Godzilla shop in the middle of Ikebukuro Station will be open to the public. The goods being sold are very similar to the ones offered at the Godzilla Store in Shinjuku, although I did notice a few interesting differences. (Unless I just haven't been paying close enough attention at the Shinjuku location, the photo at the bottom is the most notable difference.) However, the main attraction for me was seeing the Godzilla display. Anyway, enjoy!

Cherry Blossoms Begin Blooming!

While out and about today, I noticed that the cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom (a bit earlier than I expected). I snapped some photos of what I saw. Enjoy!

AN EVENING WITH A YAKUZA ACTOR! Meeting Jiro Okazaki!

 Jiro Okazaki. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I last updated this blog. That's primarily due to the fact that the coronavirus caused several events and other functions to be cancelled. Things are slowly starting to pick back up, however, so we'll see how things go from here.

The event I attended tonight was guested by actor Jiro Okazaki. Okazaki-san began his acting career with Toei in 1964, and he still acts to this day. In the 1960s and '70s, he appeared in numerous films for Toei and Nikkatsu, even turning up in Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). On TV, Okazaki-san appeared as George Miyamoto in episode 9 of Strada 5 (1974), episode 19 of Fight! Dragon (1974), and episode 1 of Kaiketsu Zubat (1977) as Goro Asuka.

It was my first time to meet him, and he was surprised to see an American at his event. He commented that my presence made it an international affair, which I guess it did. He was a very cool guy, and I enjoyed my time hanging out with him.

An Evening with a Legendary Cinematographer!

With Daisaku Kimura.

Tonight, I attended an event with legendary Japanese cinematographer Daisaku Kimura, whose credits include several classic Akira Kurosawa movies, as well as tokusatsu greats as Submersion of Japan (1973), Blue Christmas (1978), and Virus (1980). One thing's for sure: Kimura-san certainly doesn't hold back in expressing himself!

It was certainly an enlightening experience. Kimura-san is truly one of the greats of Japanese cinema.

Talkin' Toho Tokusatsu!

Teruyoshi Nakano and Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday evening, I attended yet another event with Teruyoshi Nakano and Takashi Naganuma. It was another fun time, though I guess you probably know the routine by now.

Teruyoshi Nakano. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I asked Nakano-san some questions about Godzilla vs. Megalon, which more or less confirmed things I'd heard from others about the production over the years. 

Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Naganuma-san pointed out that not only did he build the dolphin boat in the movie, he also built the miniature truck during the dam scene. 

Naganuma-san also asked me a lot of questions about myself, such as why I love Jet Jaguar. I wouldn't say that I love JJ, but that I love the movie he was in.

And there you have it. As always, it was an excellent time.

Spotted in Yokohama Station

Posters seen in Yokohama Station. Photo by Brett Homenick.

While passing through Yokohama Station, two posters caught my eye. Thankfully, they were side-by-side, so photographing them was a cinch.

The poster above is for an event called Ultraheroes Expo the Live, which you can read more about here.

The other is a rather self-explanatory poster for the upcoming concert tour of singer (and former Toho actor) Yuzo Kayama.