Gamera Day Yesterday

Above, yours truly in line to get into the theater.

Since it was windy outside and that drives my sinuses crazy, I stayed indoors for most of the day.

I decided to revisit Gamera The Brave (2006), a reboot of Daiei/Kadokawa Pictures Gamera character.  I attended the premiere of the movie on April 29, 2006 at the Picadilly Theaters in the Yurikucho Mullion Building in Chiyoda, Tokyo. 

Above, yours truly at the souvenir table in the theater lobby.

Later, when I bought the Japanese DVD of the movie, there was an extra showing the premiere and I was seen waiting to enter and at a souvenir stand in the theater's lobby. I was at the "ripe old age" of 52 at the time. Hard to believe, now that I am 71. Where did the time go?

Above, the JR Central Towers at JR Nagoya Station were
 featured in Gamera The Brave. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

In 2014, I planned to visit Nagoya, where much of the action of Gamers The Brave takes place, but a snowstorm caused me to modify my Japan visit. In 2007, while taking a train down to Kyushu, the train stopped at JR Nagoya Station and I got a photo fo the JR Central Towers featured in the movie.

Later, during dinner, I decided to watch Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe (1995). It had been a long time since I watched it as well. A few months before my dad's passing in 1999, I loaned my parents the DVD of it and they both enjoyed it.

Above, the Fukuoka Dome in 2007 was featured in Gamera:
 The Guardian of the Universe. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

In 2007, I did pay a visit to the Fukuoka Dome that was featured in Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe during the attempted capture of three Gyaos birds. 

The locations mentioned were covered in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

Nichigeki Theater Re-Created In "Godzilla Minus One"

People have been raving about the special effects of Godzilla Minus One, but there's one thing that impressed me about the movie: the re-creation of 1940s Tokyo.

Sharp eyes will note the re-creation of the Nippon Gekjo Theater, more commonly known as the Nichigeki Theater. It was located in the Chiyoda-ku ward near Ginza.

Above, the Nichigeki Theater. 

The theater was demolished in 1981 for redevelopment and the Yuracucho Mullion building complex (it was featured and clawed by Godzilla in Return of Godzilla (1984)) now occupies the location. The theater was hit by Godzilla's tail in Godzilla (1954).

Above, the Yurakucho Mullion building. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Yurakucho Mullion building is covered in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan by yours truly.

For more on the Nichigeki Theater, go here.

Tokyo Imperial Hotel To Be Rebuilt

Above, the dinner party I hosted at the Imperial Hotel in 2015.

Reporter Steve Martin (Raymond Burr) stayed there in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) (talk about a "shameless plug") and it hosted celebrities like Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe, and I hosted a dinner party there in 2015 for friends from Toho Co., Ltd.

Now it has been announced that Tokyo's Imperial Hotel is going to be rebuilt.

The Japan Times reported:

Imperial Hotel Ltd. said Thursday that it will rebuild the Imperial Hotel Tokyo in the Japanese capital’s Chiyoda Ward by fiscal 2036, in anticipation of a tourist demand recovery after the coronavirus pandemic ends.

Imperial Hotel aims to boost its brand power through the replacement project. While the traditional upscale hotel has a global reputation, it is facing intense competition from foreign-brand luxury hotels and other venues.

The hotel was established in 1890. Its current Main Building, the third in its history, was opened in 1970, and the adjacent Tower Building in 1983.

The hotel will remain open during the rebuilding.

To read more, go here.