Kumagai Jiro

Kumagai Jiro is a Japanese actor who appeared (or at the very least had a presence in) no less than 20 sci-fi films, and many other films besides. He reportedly lived no more than 3 minutes away from Toho studios during the height of Toho’s output. From 1963 onward he acted under the stage name “Kumagai…

Ubukata Soji

Ubukata Soji was a Japanese actor born in Tokyo City, Tokyo. His death date is unknown. After dropping out of the old junior high school, he entered the Japanese Film Actor School in Hongo Ward. He joined Kawai Productions, which was founded in February 1928. In 1931, he transferred to Teikoku Kinema,…

Natsuki Junpei

Natsuki Junpei is a Japanese actor born in Fukuoka, Japan. He was a supporting player for Toho in the 50s and 60s, recognizable by his high forehead and dry, often worried expressions. He's best remembered for a single, lingering shot as a power plant worker in the original 1954 film, Godzilla.

Koizumi Hiroshi

Hiroshi Koizumi was a Japanese actor who began as an announcer for NHK before transitioning to film in 1950. He was accepted into Toho as part of the 3rd New Face program for new actors and made his film debut in 1952. He first appeared in sci-fi in 1955 as a pilot in Godzilla Raids Again. He would…

Kita Takeo

Kita Takeo was an art director and producer of Japanese films and President of Toho Built. He was born in Osaka. He was the first deputy director of the Japan Film and Television Art Directors Association. His younger brother Kita Tatsuo is also an art director. In 1926, he graduated from Ichioka Junior…

Fujita Susumu

Fujita Susumu was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Kurosawa Akira's first feature, Sugata Sanshiro, and appeared in other Kurosawa films including The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail and The Hidden Fortress. Later, he was a supporting actor in Honda Ishiro's Mothra…

Anzai Kyoko

Anzai was a member of the Osaka Shochiku Opera Company from 1950-1953. She entered film immediately after resigning from the company. She retired from acting completely following her marriage in 1961 to fellow actor Tatsuya Mihashi. They remained married until her death in 2002. While her film career…

Hama Mie

Hama Mie is a Japanese actress. She was working as a bus conductor when she was spotted by producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. She went on to become one of the most in-demand actresses in Japan. Notable appearances included the 1965 spy comedy Kokusai Himitsu Keisatsu: Kagi no Kagi, which was the source for the…

Sanjo Miki

Sanjo Miki graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan Sakuramizu Women’s Commercial School and went to work for Daiei Studios in their accounting department. After the war, she caught the eye of Daiei president Nagata Masakazu and was approached to appear in a film. She debuted in 1946 and continued to appear…

Arikawa Sadamasa

Arikawa Sadamasa was a Japanese special effects cinematographer and director. After his tour as a bomber pilot during WWII, he joined up briefly with Toho, but soon left over disputes with the workers’ union. He encountered Tsuburaya Eiji and joined his private film effects company during the time…

Gwan Gung Vs. Aliens

5.0

A widowed sculptor in Hong Kong races against failing eyesight to finish a statue dedicated to the spear-wielding deity of war Gwan Gung in the hope of attaining a miracle, much to the skepticism of his scientist son…

Rainbow Trout

8.4

Take two successful and self-absorbed couples and a younger sister from the sprawl of Seoul and set them down for a weekend out in the countryside where there's not much else to do but squat in rivers to increase your…

Dear Hinagon

6.0

The Hinagon is the Japanese equivalent of Bigfoot or Yeti. It is a mountain-dweller, and smaller than most of the cryptic ape varieties, standing at about five feet tall, but with large feet. Sightings have been reported…

Inferno

"Inferno" centers on the strange case of Satomi Saeki. Apparently, this graduate student was missing for some time, only to return with a serious case of amnesia. In trying to unravel the intricate secrets behind her…

Youngsters on Fire Season 3

8.0

There is an unwritten rule in Hartford High School: All senior students must live in the dorm and study together for better exam results. They are even requested to give away their phones. However, the timid dorm manager…

Monster Next Door

7.9

Cute introvert Diewdai likes living in his ultra private world, hiding away in his apartment. His best friend is a turtle called Khun Shy. Diew's life of peace, however, is destroyed when God—an extroverted senior…