Accommodation Options Near Mount Fuji

Above, a shinkansen view of Mount Fuji. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Mount Fuji was the "location" used in a number of kaiju movies over the years. They include King Kong vs. Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters and Gamera, The Guardian of the Universe. It is also a popular destination for visitors and there are several kinds of accommodations available for a stay near Japan's iconic peak.

Tokyo Cheapo has an article on what's available.

They begin with:

Whether you’re climbing it or just admiring the iconic mountain from a distance, Fuji-san is well worth a trip from Tokyo. If you want to stay nearby, we have more than a few suggestions for accommodation near Mount Fuji. 

Unsurprisingly, your options for accommodation near Mount Fuji include plenty of hotels, hostels and traditional Japanese ryokans (inns) to bed down in for the night, with a few even perched on its slopes. Whether you’re looking to view the mountain and then explore Kawaguchiko, or just stare lovingly at the peak from an onsen (hot spring), you’re sure to find something that suits your budget. Combine this with excellent transport options from Tokyo and our hiking guide with all you need to know, and you’re set to go!

To read more, go here. 

Yoshio Tsuchiya Dies At 90

Above, Yoshio Tsuchiya in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991).

We've lost another Toho great.

One of the more interesting actors to appear in Toho's Godzilla and other science-fiction movies, Yoshio Tsuchiya, has passed away at age 90.

He was born in Kofu, Yamanashi on May 18, 1927 and played quirky characters. Tsuchiya appeared in such movies as Godzilla Raids Again, Monster Zero, The Mysterians, Destroy All Monsters, Seven Samurai, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Matango, The Human Vapor, Battle In Outer Space, Red Beard, Space Amoeba and many others.

He had said that he enjoyed appearing in science-fiction films, saying, "Most actors get comfortable with a certain genre, and they stick to that. But as far as I was concerned, it was equally prestigious to appear in science-fiction films or in Kurosawa movies."

UPDATE:

According to Celebrity Icons, Tsuchiya passed away several months ago, but due to other health issues, his family delayed making an announcement until now.

Haruo Nakajima's Dual Roles

Above, Haruo Nakajima getting into the Godzilla suit in 1954. Toho Co., Ltd.

On occasion, Haruo Nakajima would appear in a kaiju film as himself (such as a military official or a newspaper editor) as well as the man in the monster suit.

Here's a few examples:

Above, Nakajima (far left) appeared as a newspaper editor in Godzilla (1954).

Above, Nakajma (second from left) appears as a military officer in Rodan (1956).

Above, in an interesting shot in Rodan, Nakajima (left) flees himself in the Rodan suit.

Above, in Destroy All Monsters (1968), Nakajima is shown in the foreground at left.

Media Blasters and Toho Settle

Media Blasters posted this a few days ago on their Facebook page:

Godzilla issues have finally come to a settlement with Toho so going back to the BDs and DVDs work but will take lots of time.

Since the issues concerning extras are now resolved, we can soon (we hope) scoop up those DVDs and Blu-rays of Destroy All Monsters (at least get it back in print) and Godzilla vs. Megalon (with extras). It took long enough, but at least they came to terms.

Mount Fuji Had A Good Season

Above, a view of the top of Mt. Fuji.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Mount Fuji in Japan was the site of the start of the epic battle between King Kong and Godzilla in 1962 and it was the location of the battle between Earth's monsters (led by Godzilla) and King Ghidorah in 1968's Destroy All Monsters.

Today, one of Japan's national symbols is the draw for thousands of hikers to view morning sunrises.

According to Kyodo News, Mount Fuji had a good season:

Mt. Fuji drew 246,616 climbers during July and August, up about 20,000 from last year due mainly to fine weather, a municipal government in Yamanashi said Saturday. 

"In addition to good weather, mountain lodges and toilets were renovated for women, while efforts to seek the registration of Mt. Fuji as a World Heritage site gained the attention of climbers," said an official of Fujiyoshida.

Mount Fuji is covered in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan on page 37.

 To read more, go here.

Fears of A Mount Fuji Eruption Rise In Japan

Above, Mount Fuji peeks above the cloud cover.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It was the site where King Kong and Godzilla began their epic battle. It was also the location where all of Earth's monsters battled the space monster King Ghidorah. (These are covered on page 37 of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.)

The biggest symbol of Japan is Mount Fuji and hundreds of people scale its slopes to view spectacular sunrises annually.

All that may change if Japan's worse fears about Mount Fuji come to pass: an eruption. Mount Fuji last erupted in December 1707.

The Japan Times posted an article on fears that the 3/11/11 earthquake may re-awaken the sleeping peak:

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear crisis were unparalled disasters, but people in and around Shizuoka Prefecture fear the ultimate catastrophe — the eruption of Mount Fuji — may be looming.

"If Mount Fuji were to erupt, the consequences will be felt in the Kanto region and beyond," Hideo Ogawa, head of Shizuoka Prefecture's disaster management department, said during a meeting held by the Cabinet Office in June on the possibility of such calamity. "This is an issue that requires surrounding prefectures to collaborate and take prompt measures."

The meeting, attended by approximately 60 organizations, including government bodies as well as officials from Shizuoka, Kanagawa and Yamanashi prefectures, concluded that studies on possible evacuation routes in the surrounding area should start in January.

Measures to evacuate residents as well as tourists out of the region should also be prepared, they said, with an eye at holding a large-scale evacuation drill in 2014.

To read the full article, go here.

Media Blasters' "Godzilla vs. Megalon" and "Destroy All Monsters" DVD/Blu-ray: AIP Dub Included?

Above, the box art for ADV Films' DVD of "Destroy All Monsters" from 2004. Media Blasters hasn't released any photos of their upcoming box art. They say they have a few "surprises" in store.

Media Blasters' DVD and Blu-ray editions of Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Megalon are days away (slated for October 25) from being released.

The big question in fans' minds is, "Will they include the AIP (original distributor American International Pictures) dub on DAM?" Fans generally agree that the Toho "international dub" is horrendous (I am in this camp) and that the inclusion of the AIP dub would be a big selling point.

Well, once people start receiving their discs and post reviews on the Internet, we will know for sure! It is rumored that the AIP dub had been sourced from a 16mm print of DAM.

The last video release of DAM by ADV was back in 2004 (for Godzilla's 50th anniversary) and it only included the "international dub." As a refresher, here's my 2004 review of that release:

Taking advantage of Godzilla's 50th Anniversary, ADV Films has produced a Special Edition DVD of Destroy All Monsters! (1968) complete with a soundtrack CD for the price of $14.99.

While I have other and better (including one with the original U.S. dubbing) copies of DAM, the price of $14.99 for a DVD with a CD were too good to pass up. Was this worth the $14.99? Easily yes!

On the DVD itself, it contains the "international" Toho dub that many fans aren't too fond of. Since I've owned the ADV VHS edition with the same dub, that really didn't bother me and I fully expected it.

However, the film transfer itself is not one that I would give high marks for. The print used was a bit worn to begin with and the "natural" enhancement that digital transfers do to older films only accentuate the film scratches and sound pops of the soundtrack. It was not anywhere near as obvious in the VHS edition of a few years ago. I would have expected that ADV would have been able to obtain a more pristine print of the film to make the digital transfers. Plus, there are no chapter stops or a menu (well, since there's no chapters, who needs a menu?) and no extras on the DVD. It would have been nice if they included the original Japanese and/or U.S. trailers. This is pretty bare-bones!

The soundtrack CD, on the other hand, is a gem of an item and it alone is worth the price of the item. There are 30 Akira Ifukube tracks on the CD. But, unfortunately, there's nothing in the package to tell you the titles of each track. Since most of us pretty much memorized the movie anyway, we can picture in our own minds which scenes each track came from. If you don't already have the soundtrack for DAM in your kaiju library, this item is a must-have. Your neighbors will love you for cranking up your system's volume while playing this!

I have to admit the packaging art for this DVD/CD is very nice. It is a lot better than the cartoony one ADV released before. "50th Anniversary" is quite evident in the packing art. The average person not "in the know" might be led to believe that it is the 50th Anniversary of Destroy All Monsters!, not Godzilla himself.

The DVD is in widescreen and 2.0 English.

My overall grade for this item is B. Too bad ADV didn't put out a product that matched or came close to their recent Gamera trilogy releases.

The DVD gets a C and the CD gets an A.

Media Blasters has promised a few "surprises" with their release. We'll see.

It's Official: Media Blasters To Release "Destroy All Monsters" and "Godzilla vs. Megalon"

Above, the U.S. poster of "Godzilla vs. Megalon."

After weeks of speculation and rumors, it is now official: Media Blasters has Godzilla vs. Megalon and, also, Destroy All Monsters.

According to their Facebook page:

Talking about Godzilla we can make it official now, we have DAM and Godzilla vs. Megalon. DAM is scheduled for October and will be both Blu-Ray and DVD releases. Do not know all the details about the extras yet. We will post with it later as they become available. Now for the funny part, we were not looking at Godzilla vs. Megalon till everyone said we have it so we asked they said ok so we picked it up.

There is no word as yet on the release date of Godzilla vs. Megalon, but it will likely be in 2012.

The last sentence from Media Blasters' announcement is interesting:

Now for the funny part, we were not looking at Godzilla vs. Megalon till everyone said we have it so we asked they said ok so we picked it up.

As mentioned previously, Robert Dunham's daughter Emiko Jade Frost said she was approached by someone working on the extra features for the DVD some months ago. Then, the word about it was announced by August Ragone. I posted the news here as Ragone has been a reliable source for news in the world of kaiju. Then Media Blasters said they don't have Megalon. After this, all hell broke loose and Ragone found himself on the receiving end of attacks by irate fanboys.

Perhaps the hullabaloo surrounding the Ragone announcement was a good thing in the end as Media Blasters acquired Megalon and it'll finally receive an official release.

As far as Destroy All Monsters is concerned, I have the ADV VHS and DVD releases. Unfortunately, both have Toho's international dub instead of the original A.I.P. dub. It is hoped that Media Blasters can release Destroy All Monsters with the A.I.P. dub or, at least, the Japanese language, but subtitled version. The international dub is atrocious.

Nevertheless, this is good news! (Now if we can only get Return of Godzilla (Godzilla 1985) and Godzilla vs. Biollante released on DVD.)

Daily Yomiuri Article On "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan"

The Daily Yomiuri has its article on The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan posted at its online site.

As mentioned earlier, it was scheduled to be published/posted on Christmas Eve. Since Japan is 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles, it is already Christmas Eve in Japan. So they're right on schedule!



The article starts out with:

Godzilla was the embodiment of war in his eponymous 1954 debut film, but he saved the Earth from ecological doom in Godzilla vs the Smog Monster in 1971. The giant reptilian monster has meant many things to many people.

But did you ever imagine him as a tourist? According to The Monster Movie Fan's Guide to Japan (51 pp, 15 dollars, available via www.comixpress.com), Godzilla has ranged as far north as Sapporo, where he destroyed the TV Tower in one of his many films, and as far south as the Sakurajima volcano in Kyushu, near which he came ashore in another.

One place he hasn't visited is New York. Or perhaps that point is arguable. Armand Vaquer, the guidebook's author, told The Daily Yomiuri in a recent interview that devoted fans refer to the 1998 U.S. film in which Godzilla took a bite of the Big Apple as GINO ("Godzilla In Name Only").

We didn't discuss Godzilla's New York visits except for GINO, as fans are aware the real Godzilla did pay a visit to the Big Apple in Destroy All Monsters. Besides, the Guide is on Godzilla's Japan locations, not New York.

Above, Ai. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One bit of information in which the article noted as "dated," the bus ride from newly-arrived planes to the Narita Airport terminal:

Some of the practical information in the book is a bit dated. For instance, it has been a few years since a plane-to-terminal bus ride was a routine part of arriving at Narita Airport.

Prior to this month's trip to Japan, my last trip there was in 2007 in which I did have to take the shuttle bus ride from the plane to the airport terminal. It didn't happen all the time in my previous trips, just when there wasn't a gate available. It is nice to know that Narita totally did away with the shuttle bus ride. A welcome change.

The article did note Immigration's video featuring G-actress Shelley Sweeney.

To read the full article, go here.

Kickback Day

August has finally arrived in the San Fernando Valley. It is hot and somewhat humid out. It is 89 degrees in the shade here. Except for a few days, it has been a milder-than-usual summer.

Today began with going out for an overdue haircut. Luckily for me, the local Supercuts had nobody ahead of me and they immediately got me in a chair.



The rest of the day was watching two Godzilla movies. Both of them dealt with alien invasions and had lots of monsters in them. I started with Destroy All Monsters and finished off with Godzilla Final Wars. I hadn't watched either for a while. The DAM version was with the AIP dub. I can't stand the Toho "international dub" version.

I enjoyed Godzilla Final Wars back when it premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater (has it really been almost six years?) and still enjoy it.



A welcome piece of mail came in. It was a check for three claim assignments I did last week.

I was going to attend a job fair today in Woodland Hills, but I discovered that I'm out of printer ink to print off some resumes (plus it's too darn hot to go out), so I didn't bother.

Amber stopped by to pick up her mail while en route to work. Her grandmother is still in the hospital and is doing as well as can be expected.

I may just pop open a bottle of California chardonnay and take a dip in the pool this evening after a steak dinner.

ADV Sale and "Destroy All Monsters"

Above, the poster for A.I.P.'s "Destroy All Monsters."

Since the report of ADV Film's sale, some have speculated that Sony, Media Blasters or Classic Media can acquire the video rights to Destroy All Monsters (1969).

According to the press release announcing the sale:

Through an asset purchase agreement, AEsir Holdings, LLC ("Aesir") acquired a subordinated interest in selected programming from ADV's film library together with other intellectual property subject to all liens and security interests of the Company's senior secured lender. The transaction requires Aesir to assume specific obligations and scheduled liabilities of the Company under legacy license agreements associated with the acquired programming.

Concurrently, the Company concluded an asset purchase agreement with SXION 23, LLC, doing business as "Section23 Films," a home video distribution company, under which it assumes account servicing and distribution operations in connection with the library acquired by Aesir, subject to all liens and security interest of the Company's senior secured lender.

Assuming that Destroy All Monsters is included in the asset purchase, the company buying the assets would then have the rights to the movie. According to kaiju expert August Ragone, the contract between ADV Films and Toho Co., Ltd. for Destroy All Monsters is still valid for several more years.

Presently, the only way another company can release Destroy All Monsters would be for them to buy the rights from the new owner of the former ADV Films' assets. Or, the present license expires and the rights revert back to Toho and they put it on the market. Seems pretty straightforward. But that only applies to the version ADV Films released.

Some are hoping that Destroy All Monsters with the original A.I.P. (American International Pictures) dub can be released on DVD. It currently circulates here & there on the bootleg market. The version ADV Films released was Toho's "international" version, with a much-inferior dub. It appears that this may never happen unless the current owner of the A.I.P. dub (whoever that may be) grants (i.e., sells) a license to do so.

But what if Toho Co., Ltd. doesn't want the A.I.P. version released and insists that only the "international" version can be released? Then we'd be stuck with no realistic recourse.

So if you are anxiously awaiting for a company to release Destroy All Monsters in the original A.I.P. dub, it is doubtful it will ever happen. But it would be a nice surprise to see it happen.