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Keiji Sakakida

Keiji Sakakida

Acting

Biography

Sakakida debuted in film in 1921, and appeared in a number pre-war films with various studios, including Nikkatsu, Takamatsu-Azuma, Empire Kinema, and Makino Talkie, before finally landing at PCL in 1937, which would later become Toho. After the war, Sakakida appeared in numerous supporting roles for Toho, predominantly sci-fi, beginning with the original Godzilla in 1954. He played the mayor of the island town attacked by Godzilla in the first half of the film. One of his last appearances was in Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), in a still shot of a group of scientists restraining Akihiko Hirata’s character.

Known For

The Battle of Okinawa
7.8

The Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.

The Battle of Okinawa

1971Movie
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8.0

Song of the White Orchid was a co-production of Toho and Mantetsu, the railway that served the colonial region of Manchuria, and the first film in the Kazuo Hasegawa/Shirley Yamaguchi (Ri Koran) “Continental Trilogy.” Handsome Hasegawa (representing Japan) runs up against an impertinent Yamaguchi (representing the continent); not surprisingly, in the course of the film the woman comes around and realizes the benevolent intentions of the Japanese. In Song of the White Orchid Yamaguchi leaves Hasegawa, who plays an expatriate working for the railway, because of a misunderstanding. She joins a communist guerilla group plotting to blow up the Manchurian railway. Learning of the subterfuge that led to the misunderstanding, she renews her faith in Hasegawa—and by extension Japan—and tries to undermine the plot.

Song of the White Orchid

1939Movie