Hanging Out with a '70s Toei Tokusatsu Icon!

Go Takashina. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday evening, May 14, I had the opportunity to meet Toei actor Go Takashina for the first time.

Go Takashina, whose real name is Masahiro Takashina (which also used to be his old stage name under a different kanji spelling), began acting professionally in 1973. He has appeared in several movies, but he is mostly known for his decades-long career in television.

Since debuting as an actor, Takashina-san has appeared in episode 14 of Iron King (1972-73) as Phantom member Minazuki, episode 26 of Kamen Rider X (1974) as the human form of a GOD agent, episode 6 of The Kagestar (1976-77), episode 11 of Toho's Super Sentai-inspired series Enban Senso Bankid (1976-77) as a police officer, and (most notably) episodes 16 through 35 of Daitetsujin 17 (1977) as Tetsugoro Iwayama.

When I sat down across from Takashina-san, he said that I had a nice face. Later on in the evening, he was looking at a poster for the James Dean epic East of Eden (1955). I asked him who directed it, but he wasn't sure. I got up to look at the poster and found the name of director, Elia Kazan. But then I quipped that it was actually "Alien" Kazan, which is a play on the katakana spelling of the two names. Well, at least he seemed to appreciate it!

All in all, Takashina-san didn't have many memories about his tokusatsu work. He was surprised to find out that I was familiar with Iron King and knew that he was in it. When I asked him about the infamous Starfish Hitler character from his episode of Kamen Rider X, he had no memory of it. But he was a lot of fun to hang out with and talked a lot about his enthusiasm for driving.

It was great to meet Takashina-san, who was quite a friendly chap to converse with.

Vantage Point Interviews Explores One of the Worst Movies Ever!

Photo courtesy of Tom DeSimone. 

It's not tokusatsu, but, if you like old, whacked-out cult movies, you might find this one interesting. Director Tom DeSimone discusses making arguably one of the worst movies ever, Terror in the Jungle (1968), on Vantage Point Interviews. At least he talks about making the first 30 minutes of the flick, as he quit the production due to constant disagreements with the producer. It's all fascinating stuff; give it a read!

Revisiting the Godzilla Statue in Hibiya!

Godzilla in Hibiya! Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I happened to be in Hibiya, so I photographed the Godzilla statue there. Here are the shots I took. Enjoy!

A Night of Tokusatsu!

Eiichi Asada (left) and Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Sunday, May 8, I attended yet another event featuring alums of the tokusatsu world -- namely, Eiichi Asada and Takashi Naganuma.

I've blogged about these two gentlemen for years, so, really, what can I say that I haven't already said countless times? That's what the archives are for!

Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I happened to spend most of the evening with Takashi Naganuma. Very little tokusatsu was talked about. The focus was mostly on his sense of humor and wordplay. He loves puns in both Japanese and English. It's always a hoot to talk to him!

As fun as it was hanging out with Naganuma, I didn't have much of a chance to spend time with Asada-san, which was too bad. But there's always next time!

Eiichi Asada. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I did get to see him for a brief time, and I got to flip through his copy of the Espy (1974) script. Lots of interesting tidbits in that one!

 And that's a wrap!

Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe Passes Away at Age 66

Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe in June 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe passed away on May 3 at age 66. He was found hanging in his home, but no further details are available at this time. 

Born in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, on December 9, 1955, Mr. Watanabe would make his big-screen debut in the film On the Road (1982), which would lead to a lengthy career in film and television.

Prior to that, however, he auditioned for, but didn't get cast as, the lead role of the series Kamen Rider Super-1 (1980-81). He would eventually get to play Kamen Rider Gaoh in Kamen Rider Den-O: I'm Born! (2007), which made him the oldest actor to play a Kamen Rider at the time.

During his acting career,  Mr. Watanabe appeared in all three of the Heisei Gamera films as Col. Ono, as well as GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) as Yutaka Hirose. He was also a series regular on Ultraman Gaia (1998-99) as Akio Ishimuro, among various other tokusatsu films and TV programs.

I met Mr. Watanabe just once, which was in June 2016. He was a friendly guy and very easy to speak with. As he had been studying it for a few years, he could communicate in English quite well. As an actor, his career touched the Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider series -- a very rare feat. 

Rest in peace, Mr. Watanabe.

Meeting the Gentle Three!

Mariko Nakamura. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On the evening of May 3, I was pleased to meet several new faces. They were actress Mariko Nakamura, actor Hiroshi Okochi, and director Shun Nakahara, alumni of the film The Gentle Twelve (1991).

Hiroshi Okochi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Hiroshi Okochi is a prolific actor whose biggest tokusatsu credit is playing the regimental commander of the Sapporo Odori Command Center in Gamera 2 (1996). He remains an in-demand actor in Japan to this day. He left the event not long after I arrived from work, so I didn't have much interaction with him.

With Mariko Nakamura, director Shun Nakahara, and Hiroshi Okochi.

Most of all, however, I was privileged to meet actress Mariko Nakamura. She is the daughter of legendary actor Nobuo Nakamura, a veteran of countless Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu films. He also appeared in numerous tokusatsu movies, particularly Dogora the Space Monster (1964) as Dr. Munakata (a.k.a. the self-described "young soldier") and The War of the Gargantuas (1966) as Professor Kita.

Ms. Nakamura is an actress in her own right, having appeared in the Toho actioner The Black Battlefront Kidnappers (1973), starring Hiroshi Fujioka. It was a lot of fun speaking with her about her father's film career, as well as her own.

Ms. Nakamura studied in France, so she speaks French and even a bit of English. She told me she was surprised to see her father speaking English in Submersion of Japan (1973), as that wasn't something he normally did and guessed it must have been difficult for him.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening!

An Ultra-Size Ultraman in Yokohama!

Ultraman conquers Yokohama! Photo by Brett Homenick.

From April 29 until June 30, a 10-meter Ultraman balloon will be on display on the first floor of Yokohama Landmark Plaza's Sakata Seed Garden Square. At the same time, a stamp rally is being held from April 29 until May 8 at several locations nearby, including Yokohama Royal Park Hotel. (See the photos below.) 

There are more Ultraman displays to be seen in Yokohama, but I'll have to return there to take them all in. The hype for Shin Ultraman (2022) continues to build, and it's a lot of fun to see it all unfold.