Tokyo being the nerve center of the Japanese pop-culture machine as well as the nation's capital and center of the Japanese financial world makes it the kind of place where you can find yourself face to face with former actors, former prime ministers, former members of the Science Patrol... The list goes on.
Take one day last summer, fer instance. I came home after a trip to the grocery store to find a frantic Hiroko at the door:
"Where were you? I tried calling!"
"Left my cell phone behind, sorry. What's up?"
"Umezu Kazuo just walked past the house and down the street!"
"What?!" (sound of groceries dropping to floor as I lunge for the vintage Umezz collection on our bookshelf and sprint out the door after him for a "sign," as the Japanese call autographs.)
The attempt played out unsuccessfully -- how I lost a guy who dresses in nothing but bright red striped shirts I'll never know, but I should've figured someone who writes stories with names like "A Girl Who Has A Human-faced Lump on Her Cheek" to be able to disappear like a character from one of his comics.
Anyway, just this past Monday Hiroko and I were jogging along the tamagawa josui trail. We spotted a camera crew set up ahead of us. The crew was between takes, and sitting in a chair in a grassy spot alongside the path was none other than Kinya Aikawa. Kinya Aikawa! The voice of Racer X in the Japanese version of "Speed Racer," co-star of Bunta Sugawara in many of the "Truck Yaro" films, and -- most importantly -- spokesman for Popy toy, for whom he filmed a legendary commercial in the late '70s, reminding kids to ask for their most famous product by name: "Chogokin are only made by Popy. See? (points to kanji on box) 'Chogokin' is spelled like this... Cho-go-kin. Remember, you don't read these kanji Cho-ai-kin. That would be me." Get it? GET IT? Aikawa Kinya... Cho-Ai-Kin... Because the kanji's got a dual reading of "go" and "ai"... Ah, whatever. Welcome to the world of kanji-based humor.
Unfotunately, this commercial is, like, the one clip in existence that hasn't been uploaded to YouTube, so you'll have to content yourself with imagining the still above is video. Try drinking a few nice, cold "Other Miscellaneous Alcoholic Beverages, Type 2" or something.
Awesome sighting! If only you could have recreated the commercial with him. Alas, the AVI for that one is gone off of Toybox DX. Roger Seto, where are you?
Posted by: Roger | January 10, 2007 at 10:01 PM
I've got a DVD of commercials that have some of the Popy commercials on it. Maybe I can rip and put on YouTube (and Matt...I'm looking for that Komiket video now, at least...slowly but surely viewing unlabeled cassettes...dammit, why didn't I use the labels)
Posted by: hillsy | January 11, 2007 at 01:33 AM
The commercial ends, if I recall, with him sweeping all of the (now ludicrously expensive) Chogokin off the tabletop with his forearm, in a move I can only assume he picked up on the set of "Truck Yaro."
Posted by: Matt Alt | January 11, 2007 at 10:08 AM
And that move was almost exactly duplicated on Attack of the Show, 25 years later!
Posted by: Roger | January 11, 2007 at 11:04 PM
How could I forget that notorious yet sexy episode? Souky took these screen-grabs of it. (Aside from my Skype'd in audio dropping out, the interview went great, but just prior to the credit roll the two other hosts thought it'd be "wacky" to jump in and start smashing toys together.)
The calm before the storm:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v685/rhino0_7/AttackOfTheShow3.jpg
Robert "droppin' science":
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v685/rhino0_7/AttackOfTheShow.jpg
Tim all sexy:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v685/rhino0_7/AttackOfTheShow2.jpg
Posted by: Matt Alt | January 12, 2007 at 11:22 AM