Sadly, it's been reported that iconic Heisei Godzilla suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma has passed away at age 76.
https://twitter.com/5KQ4s7lo74vcR1s/status/1735876703921295378
"2023.12.16 10:49 GODZILLA 2nd generation suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma passed away due to interstitial pneumonia. Thank you to everyone for your support"
This one really hurts. I was very fortunate to meet Haruo Nakajima at a convention in 2013, and Tsutomu Kitagawa at a convention in 2017, but now I'll never have a chance to meet Satsuma.
His performances as Hedorah and Gigan in the '70s films left such an impression on me as a kid. The way he brought Godzilla to life is one of the most defining characteristics of the Heisei Series. He shared so much with the Western kaiju fandom with all of his interviews and convention appearances since the '90s. I know that he wrote several books about playing Godzilla that were published in Japan and it would be fascinating to get those translated into English.
Here are archived transcripts of David Milner's three interviews with Satsuma, all translated by Yoshihiko Shibata, from December 1993, July 1994 and December 1995:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150123035025/http://www.davmil.org/www.kaijuconversations.com/satsum.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20140419012759/http://www.davmil.org/www.kaijuconversations.com/satsum2.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20150123035032/http://www.davmil.org/www.kaijuconversations.com/satsum3.htm
R.I.P. Kenpachiro Satsuma