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Hiroshi Fujioka is Kamen Rider again after 45 years
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The film “Kamen Rider 1” opens on March 26 at cinemas around the country. The film commemorates the 45th anniversary of the superhero and stars Hiroshi Fujioka as Takeshi Hongo, the first Kamen Rider. (Shutterstock.com/Chatchai.wa)
T
he film “Kamen Rider 1” opens on March 26 at cinemas around the country. The film commemorates the 45th anniversary of the superhero and stars Hiroshi Fujioka as Takeshi Hongo, the first Kamen Rider.
It is his first appearance in a Kamen Rider feature film for 44 years. The last Kamen Rider film he appeared in was “Kamen Rider tai Jigoku Taishi” (Kamen Rider vs the hell ambassador) in 1972, which was targeted at children.
In the new film, supervillains of the evil organization Shocker, who used to engage in fights to the death against Kamen Rider, reappear in 21st-century Japan. They persistently target one high school girl who they think can help them resurrect Jigoku Taishi (the hell ambassador), who used to be Shocker’s supreme leader.
The girl, Mayu Tachibana, is a granddaughter of Tobee Tachibana, the guardian figure of successive Kamen Riders. Hongo, who has been keeping up the good fight for justice around the globe, learns that Mayu is in danger and immediately returns to Japan. But his body has been weakened by more than 40 years of fighting. Then Nova Shocker, a new faction of Shocker, sends an ultimatum to the government. As Japan faces a monumental crisis, Hongo transforms into Kamen Rider 1.
“When we created Kamen Rider 45 years ago, the film had a heart from the beginning,” Fujioka told The Yomiuri Shimbun. “It was a gift from grownups to children — the Kamen Rider spirit is about leading children in the right direction, and we put that in the picture.”
Fujioka said he wanted to emphasize the same spirit of the series once again.
He became a TV hero when he starred in the drama “Kamen Rider” in 1971. Since then, he has appeared in many films. He even starred in the Hollywood film “Ghost Warrior” and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild in the United States. An active martial artist, he excels in judo, karate, battodo (Japanese swordsmanship) and other disciplines. In addition, he has been involved in support activities for refugee camps and people in need in about 100 countries and territories around the world.
Currently, Fujioka appears in NHK’s historical drama “Sanadamaru” as Honda Tadakatsu, the stalwart warrior who supported Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Fujioka says the importance of life is the main message he wants to convey in the new film.
“This country is peaceful and rich, but nearly 25,000 people commit suicide every year,” he said. “A child kills a child, or a parent kills his or her child, and such cases are not rare. Why is life being taken so lightly? I want to challenge such a social climate and say how precious life is and how important it is to protect lives.”
The veteran actor also said he was keenly aware that in the new film he was playing a character who had matured in the past 45 years.
“I’ve gone through painful, sad and moving experiences around the world,” he said. “I’m sure Hongo has had such experiences too, as he has fought for the weak all over the world. I wanted to express him as a man with layers of experiences behind him who has changed from the person he used to be.”
Although Fujioka turned 70 earlier this year, he tackled hard action scenes from the very beginning of the new film without using a stuntman.
“The director is Osamu Kaneda, who was active 45 years ago as well. He’s ruthless and says to me, ‘Fujioka-chan, you can do it!’ He coaxed me into doing many tricks, like jumping from things and rolling,” Fujioka said with a chuckle.
“Many Kamen Riders have passed down the work throughout the past 45 years,” he said. “I hope when people see me in the film, they’ll know that I carry the thoughts of all my fellow Riders.”
Kaman Riders fought for the freedom of people in the latter years of the Showa era (1926-1989). And Kamen Rider 1 has returned today. What is he fighting for? And what is he trying to save us from? I will be sitting in a cinema, all eyes and ears for the message coming from the screen.
Suzuki is a senior writer of The Yomiuri Shimbun’s Digital Media Bureau and an expert on tokusatsu superhero films and dramas. She runs a talk event with tokusatsu performers and anime/tokusatsu song singers.
