DINNER WITH A DIRECTOR! Sharing a Meal with Tsuburaya Pro's Eizo Yamagiwa!

Tsuburaya Productions director Eizo Yamagiwa at a Chinese restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Tonight I had an enjoyable meal with director Eizo Yamagiwa. Yamagiwa-san served as an assistant director with Teruo Ishii and went on to direct numerous episodes of Return of Ultraman (1971-72), Ultraman Ace (1972-73), Ultraman Taro (1973-74), and Ultraman Leo (1974-75) at Tsuburaya Productions. He also helmed episodes of Silver Kamen (1971-72) and the Submersion of Japan TV series (1974-75).

Yamagiwa-san signs a book about Return of Ultraman that he presented to me as a gift. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Shortly after we met in Shibuya, we exchanged gifts. I gave him a box of traditional Japanese snacks, and Yamagiwa-san gave me a book about the making of Return of Ultraman in which he is interviewed. Suffice it to say, I was amazed!

We spoke for a couple of hours about a variety of subjects, everything from the Ultra-series to Humphrey Bogart. I always enjoy these one-on-one meetings with luminaries from the world of Japanese entertainment. Many thanks to Yamagiwa-san for his generosity!