Tuesday, February 13, 2007

HEnnnNSHhhIIIIiiiiiiinnnnNNnnn!!









Here's a bit of Tokosatsu history.

These rare photos of a Kamen Rider super-hero show were taken at Korakuen Amusement Park, Tokyo, Japan, by my dad, in the Spring of 1975. I'm sitting just out of camera range.

My family (parents, me and my sister) lived in Japan from July 1974-June 1975 as my father had gotten a Fullbright Grant to do research in Japan for an Encyclopedia of Kabuki that he was writing. The eleven months we lived there had a huge impression on me...as anyone who knows me will readily attest. You can't see it in these shots, but I remember the characters were running along a catwalk under the big foaming head at top. You can see in one shot two Kamen Riders standing side by side on the catwalk.

The photo at the bottom is from earlier in 1975 with me wearing my Inazuman Flash Henshin belt...I'm in position to transform (Henshin in Japanese.) Unfortunately I don't have the belt anymore!