Nobuyuki Yasumaru in September 2021. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on January 24, 1935, in Toyama Prefecture, Nobuyuki Yasumaru is a creator of miniatures and monster suits who has worked on some of Toho’s most popular kaiju films. Beginning his career with Toho in the early 1960s, Mr. Yasumaru’s credits include Mothra (1961), King Kong … Continue reading A CANDID CONVERSATION WITH GODZILLA’S MAKER! Nobuyuki Yasumaru’s Second Interview on His Incredible Suitmaking Career!
Toho
HONG KONG’S HIDDEN VOICE-ACTING GEM! Linda Masson on Her Dubbing Career in the 1960s and ’70s!
Linda Masson with fellow voice actor Peter Gilchrist during their Hong Kong dubbing days. Photo © Linda Masson. California-born Linda Masson moved to Hong Kong in the early 1960s and quickly joined her then-husband Ted Thomas in the dubbing business at his company, Axis International. Ms. Masson's voice can be heard in a variety of … Continue reading HONG KONG’S HIDDEN VOICE-ACTING GEM! Linda Masson on Her Dubbing Career in the 1960s and ’70s!
MAKING MINIATURES IN JAPANESE SFX FILMS! Atsushi Hagiwara on Creating Tokusatsu Models in the 1980s and Beyond!
Atsushi Hagiwara during the making of Sayonara Jupiter. Photo © Atsushi Hagiwara. Atsushi Hagiwara got his start as a tokusatsu modelmaker working on the ambitious Toho production Sayonara Jupiter (1984), which features some of the best special effects in Japanese film history. That experience led to a variety of other film and television projects on … Continue reading MAKING MINIATURES IN JAPANESE SFX FILMS! Atsushi Hagiwara on Creating Tokusatsu Models in the 1980s and Beyond!
BECOMING MIKI SAEGUSA! Godzilla Series Star Megumi Odaka on Her Early Life and Start at Toho!
Megumi Odaka in July 2020. Photo © Brett Homenick. Megumi Odaka is a Japanese actress who accomplished a remarkable and unprecedented feat -- she starred in six consecutive Godzilla movies, playing the same character in each film. That character, the young psychic Miki Saegusa, would go on to become one of the series' most iconic … Continue reading BECOMING MIKI SAEGUSA! Godzilla Series Star Megumi Odaka on Her Early Life and Start at Toho!
RISING THROUGH THE TOKUSATSU RANKS! Eiichi Asada Reflects on His Career as an Assistant SFX Director in the 1970s and ’80s!
Eiichi Asada in June 2021. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on March 13, 1949, Eiichi Asada got his start at Toho Studios in the early 1970s as an assistant director, working on such movies as Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), The War in Space (1977), Deathquake (1980), Sayonara Jupiter (1984), and Godzilla 1985 (1984). In later … Continue reading RISING THROUGH THE TOKUSATSU RANKS! Eiichi Asada Reflects on His Career as an Assistant SFX Director in the 1970s and ’80s!
GAMERA’S FIRST FRIEND! Former Child Actor Yoshiro Uchida Remembers Working with Daiei’s Remarkable Flying Turtle!
Yoshiro Uchida in March 2022. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on December 14, 1953, Yoshiro Uchida appears in Gamera the Giant Monster (1965), released in the U.S. as Gammera the Invincible (1966), as the young boy Toshio Sakurai who befriends the giant turtle in the first film of Daiei's long-running Gamera series. Mr. Uchida also … Continue reading GAMERA’S FIRST FRIEND! Former Child Actor Yoshiro Uchida Remembers Working with Daiei’s Remarkable Flying Turtle!
MECHAGODZILLA’S SEQUEL SECRETS! Yukiko Takayama on Writing the Screenplay for ‘Terror of Mechagodzilla’!
Yukiko Takayama in January 2016. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on April 4, 1945, to the famous Japanese painter Tatsuo Takayama (1912-2007), Yukiko Takayama studied screenwriting at the Scenario Center after graduating from Keio University's Faculty of Letters. The Scenario Center was launched in 1970 by prolific scriptwriter Hajime Arai, who was known for penning … Continue reading MECHAGODZILLA’S SEQUEL SECRETS! Yukiko Takayama on Writing the Screenplay for ‘Terror of Mechagodzilla’!
RECOLLECTIONS OF TOHO’S GOD OF CLOUDS! Fuchimu Shimakura on Painting the Studio’s Tokusatsu Backdrops!
Fuchimu Shimakura in January 2021. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on October 5, 1940, Fuchimu Shimakura began working at Toho in the late 1950s, creating or assisting in the creation of tokusatsu backdrops for the Showa era's most notable special effects movies, including Battle in Outer Space (1959), Mothra (1961), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), … Continue reading RECOLLECTIONS OF TOHO’S GOD OF CLOUDS! Fuchimu Shimakura on Painting the Studio’s Tokusatsu Backdrops!
AN ANIMATED LIFE IN TOKUSATSU! Minoru Kujirai on His Anime and SFX Work at Tsuburaya Productions and Toei!
Minoru Kujirai in November 2021. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on September 13, 1944, Minoru Kujirai is an animator who began working at Toei Animation in the mid-1960s, working on numerous well-known anime programs, including the kaiju-themed King Kong (1967). In the early 1970s, Mr. Kujirai transitioned to working on such Toei-produced tokusatsu programs as … Continue reading AN ANIMATED LIFE IN TOKUSATSU! Minoru Kujirai on His Anime and SFX Work at Tsuburaya Productions and Toei!
MEMORIES OF MECHAGODZILLA! SFX Director Teruyoshi Nakano Reflects on 35 Years of ‘Terror of Mechagodzilla’!
Teruyoshi Nakano in December 2015. Photo © Brett Homenick. Teruyoshi Nakano is one of Japan’s masters of special effects. Born in what is now Dandong, China, on October 9, 1935, Mr. Nakano joined Toho in 1959 and quickly moved up the ranks in special effects, becoming chief assistant director under Eiji Tsuburaya by 1963. In … Continue reading MEMORIES OF MECHAGODZILLA! SFX Director Teruyoshi Nakano Reflects on 35 Years of ‘Terror of Mechagodzilla’!
Vantage Point Interviews 