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Dogora
is a 1964 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, the film stars Yosuke Natsuki, Nobuo Nakamura, Hiroshi Koizumi, and Akiko Wakabayashi, along with American actor Robert Dunham. The film tells the story of a huge jellyfish-like carbon-eating creature from space that attacks Japan. ''Dogora'' was released theatrically in Japan on August 11, 1964. It was released directly to television in the United States in 1966 by American International Television, under the title ''Dagora, the Space Monster''. Plot When several TV satellites launched by the Electric Wave Laboratory go missing above Japan, people later discover that they collided with unidentified protoplasmic "space cells" of unknown origin. Meanwhile, Inspector Komai's investigation of unexplained disappearances of diamonds across the globe leads him to the crystallographer Dr. Munakata. While tracking down self-proclaimed diam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer and distributor of many ''kaiju'' and ''tokusatsu'' films, the Chouseishin ''tokusatsu'' superhero television franchise, the films of Akira Kurosawa, and the anime films of Studio Ghibli, CoMix Wave Films, TMS Entertainment and OLM, Inc. All nine of the highest-grossing Japanese films are released by Toho. Other famous directors, including Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Masaki Kobayashi, and Mikio Naruse, also directed films for Toho. Toho's most famous creation is Godzilla, who is featured in 32 of the company's films. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla are described as Toho's Big Five because of the monsters' numerous appearances throughout the franchise, as well as spin-offs. Toho has also been involve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Dunham
Robert Dunham (July 6, 1931 – August 6, 2001) was an American actor, entrepreneur, writer, racecar driver, journalist, and a US Marine. He is probably best known for his role as Antonio, Emperor of Seatopia in '' Godzilla vs. Megalon'' (1973); Dunham's biggest role would be that of Mark Jackson in the Japanese film, '' Dogora'' (1964) and Captain Martin in ''The Green Slime'' (1968). Dunham was an American living in Japan during most of the country's "Golden Age" of cinema, and worked in films directed by Ishirō Honda, Jun Fukuda, and Kinji Fukasaku. He sometimes was billed as Dan Yuma or Danny Yuma. Born in Maine, to an affluent family, his parents were Earl and Charlotte Dunham. He has a sister named Patricia June. Robert grew up in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. He attended Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts. Dunham was later accepted into Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History. Afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akiko Wakabayashi
is a retired Japanese actress. Career Wakabayashi is best known in English-speaking countries for her role as Bond girl Aki in the 1967 James Bond film '' You Only Live Twice''. Before this, she had made many films in her native Japan, especially Toho Studio's monster films, such as '' Dagora, the Space Monster'' (1964) and ''Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster'' (1964), both of which were also released under various other titles. In ''Ghidorah'', she played a mystical princess, who could predict the future and was also a prophetess. When production of ''You Only Live Twice'' began, Wakabayashi was slated to play the role of Kissy Suzuki while her co-star Mie Hama played Suki, one of Tiger Tanaka's top agents. When learning English proved to be a major hurdle to Hama, the women switched roles, with Hama playing the smaller part of Kissy and Wakabayashi playing the larger part of Suki. At her suggestion, the character of Suki was renamed Aki. They had acted together in '' King K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ishirō Honda
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda entered the Japanese film industry in 1934, working as the third assistant director on Sotoji Kimura's ''The Elderly Commoner's Life Study''. After 15 years of working on numerous films as an assistant director, he made his directorial debut with the short documentary film ''Ise-Shima'' (1949). Honda's first feature film, '' The Blue Pearl'' (1952), was a critical success in Japan at the time and would lead him to direct three subsequent drama films. In 1954, Honda directed and co-wrote ''Godzilla'', which became a box office success in Japan, and was nominated for two Japanese Movie Association awards. Because of the film's commercial success in Japan, it spawned a multimedia franchise, recognized by ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eiji Tsuburaya
was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ''Ultra'' series. During his rise to post-war fame in the wake of ''Godzilla'' (1954), it was widely reported that Tsuburaya was born on July 7, which is the high day of Tanabata (star festival), a sign of good fortune. Biography 1901–1919: Early life Tsuburaya was born on July 7, 1901, in Sukagawa, Iwase, Fukushima Prefecture (present-day Sukagawa, Fukushima), to a merchant family that manufactured malted rice. He was the first son of Isamu and Sei Tsumuraya, with a large extended family. He described his childhood as filled with "mixed emotions." When he was three, his mother died, at the age of 19, after giving birth to her second son. His father, who had been adopted into the family through marriage, subsequently left the fami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaiju
is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monsters. The ''kaiju'' genre is a subgenre of ''tokusatsu'' entertainment. The 1954 film ''Godzilla'' is commonly regarded as the first ''kaiju'' film. ''Kaiju'' characters are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the '' Lucky Dragon 5'' incident. Other notable examples of ''kaiju'' characters include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Gamera. Etymology The Japanese word ''kaijū'' originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends; it earlier appeared in the Chinese ''Classic of Mountains and Seas''. After ''sakoku'' had ended and Japan was opened to f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akira Ifukube
was a Japanese classical and film music composer, best known for his works on the ''Godzilla'' franchise. Biography Early years in Hokkaido Akira Ifukube was born on 31 May 1914 in Kushiro, Japan as the third son of a police officer Toshimitsu Ifukube. The origins of this family can be traced back to at least the 7th century with the birth of Ifukibe-no-Tokotarihime. He was strongly influenced by the Ainu music as he spent his childhood (from age of 9 to 12) in Otofuke near Obihiro, where was with a mixed population of Ainu and Japanese. His first encounter with classical music occurred when attending secondary school in Sapporo city. Ifukube decided to become a composer at the age of 14 after hearing a radio performance of Igor Stravinsky's ''The Rite of Spring'', and also cited the music of Manuel de Falla as a major influence. Ifukube studied forestry at Hokkaido Imperial University in Sapporo and composed in his spare time, which prefigured a line of self-taught Jap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hideyo Amamoto
was a prolific Japanese actor from the Wakamatsu ward of Kitakyūshū best known for portraying Dr. Shinigami in the original '' Kamen Rider'' series as well as many other characters in tokusatsu films and the ''Godzilla'' series. Amamoto also used the pseudonym of Eisei Amamoto for most of his career, Eisei being a misreading of the kanji in his real name, Hideyo. He died on March 23, 2003 of complication from pneumonia at the age of 77. Film and television credits 1950 *'' Nijushi no hitomi'' (1954) as Hisako's husband *''The Garden of Women'' (1954) as Professor (uncredited) *''Twenty-Four Eyes'' (1954) as Ôishi Sensei no Otto *''Ai wa furu hoshi no kanata ni'' (1956) as Chen LongCheng *''Yûwaku'' (1957) as Kyôzô Ikegami *''Kunin no shikeishû'' (1957) as Takao Nakamura *''Yatsu ga satsujinsha da'' (1958) *''Mikkokusha wa dare ka'' (1958) as Nakao *''Jinsei gekijô - Seishun hen'' (1958) * (1959) *'' Songoku: The Road to the West'' (1959) *'' Aru kengo no shogai'' (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susumu Fujita
Susumu Fujita () (8 January 1912 – 23 March 1991) was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Akira Kurosawa's first feature, '' Sanshiro Sugata'', and appeared in other Kurosawa films including ''The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail'' (as Togashi, commander of the border guards) and ''The Hidden Fortress'' (as General Tadokoro). Later, he was a supporting actor in Ishirō Honda's '' Mothra vs. Godzilla'', among many other films. Before and during World War II Fujita was considered one of the great stars of Japanese cinema. In the post-war period he became known for supporting roles, often playing a soldier in war films, such as in Masaki Kobayashi's ''The Human Condition'' (film series). During the sixties and seventies he played minor roles in "special effects pictures" such as ''Ultraman'' and ''Frankenstein vs. Baragon''. Life and career Fujita was born in Kurume, Fukuoka in Japan. After graduating from high school in 1929 he moved to Tokyo, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jun Tazaki
, born Minoru Tanaka, was a Japanese actor best known for his various roles in kaiju films produced by Toho, often portraying scientists or military personnel. Career Tanaka began his career as a traveling stage actor in the 1930s, performing under both his birth name and various stage names. In 1950, he changed his name to Jun Tazaki when he appeared in Shintoho's film '' Sasameyuki''. After initially holding only small film roles, Tazaki gradually gained popularity and began playing larger roles in films produced by Toho in the 1960s. Akira Kurosawa frequently cast Tazaki in his films, but Ishirō Honda also considered him a favorite. Toho's science fiction films, particularly those directed by Honda, featured him throughout the 1960s as an authority figure with a moustache. As well as playing stern but benevolent father figures, Tazaki played villains with a ruthless streak. His defining role came in Honda's ''Atragon'', in which he portrayed the embittered World War II v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoshifumi Tajima
Yoshifumi Tajima (4 August 1918 – 10 September 2009) was an actor in Japanese '' kaiju'' films, best known for his role as Kumayama in '' Mothra vs. Godzilla''. He was born in Kobe, Japan. Selected filmography * ''Pu-san'' (1953) * ''Hiroba no kodoku'' (1953) - Tachikawa * ''Waseda daigaku'' (1953) - Detective * ''Mitsuyu-sen'' (1954) - Soga * ''Otsukisama ni wa warui kedo'' (1954) * ''Ore no kenjû wa subayai'' (1954) * ''Tenka taihei'' (1955) * ''Ai no onimotsu'' (1955) * ''Shônen shikeishû'' (1955) * ''Ôkami'' (1955) * '' Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple'' (1955) - Yoshioka samurai * ''Yakan chûgaku'' (1955) * ''Aijô'' (1956) - Tamura * ''Shujinsen'' (1956) * ''Rodan'' (1956) - Izeki, reporter of Seibu Nippou * ''Kono futari ni sachi are'' (1957) * ''Ninjitsu'' (1957) * ''Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen'' (1957) - Yamaka * ''Saigo no dasso'' (1957) - Chin * ''Hadairo no tsuki'' (1957) - Jimbo * ''Datsugokushû'' (1957) * ''Zoku aoi sanmyaku Yukiko no maki'' (1957) * ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nobuo Nakamura
was a Japanese actor, who made notable appearances in the films of Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps his most famous roles in the West were those of the callous deputy mayor in Kurosawa's ''Ikiru'' (1952), and the hairdresser's henpecked husband in Ozu's ''Tokyo Story'' (1953). Nakamura was also famous for many notable contributions to Japanese modern theatre. In 1937, he founded the Bungakuza company along with Haruko Sugimura, Seiji Miyaguchi, and Masayuki Mori. Nakamura played Polonius in ''Hamlet'', Herod in Wilde's '' Salome'', Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov in Chekov's ''Uncle Vanya'', and Krapp in ''Krapp's Last Tape''. He also appeared in '' Macbeth'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', and ''The Cherry Orchard'' . In the 1950s and 1960s, he played major roles in Yukio Mishima's plays such as '' Rokumeikan'', '' My Friend Hitler'', and so on. In 1963, Nakamura left Bungakuza company and founded the NLT company with Mishima. His most famous a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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_Jun_Tazaki.jpg "Click for more on -> Jun Tazaki")