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Japanese actor Kenpachiro Satsuma, famous around the globe for his role in several Godzilla films, died on Saturday, December 16, 2023. The 76-year-old actor reportedly died due to interstitial pneumonia. Satsuma is credited for bringing the monster to life in the Heisei era of Godzilla films.
He portrayed the post-nuclear beast and his vast array of fellow Kaijus, including Hedorah and Gigan, in 10 full-length Godzilla films and many more Kaiju movies from 1971 to 1995. Kenpachiro Satsuma portrayed the king of the monsters eight times, beginning with 1984's The Return of Godzilla and concluding with 1995's Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.
Kenpachiro Satsuma and The King of the Monsters
Kenpachiro Satsuma, real name Yasauki Maeda, died on December 16, as confirmed by a translated Matomedane obituary post. He also went by the names Ryoma Kusaka and Kengo Nakayama. He was talented in Jigen-ryu swordsmanship and Karate.
According to IMDb, Satsuma was first credited for an acting role in 1968's Aa himeyuri no tô, followed by 1970's Incident at Blood Pass. However, he is well-known for his turn as the second-generation suit actor of the King of the Monsters, Godzilla, in the Heisei Godzilla series.
Kenpachiro Satsuma's first suit-acting role as a Kaiju came in 1971's Godzilla vs. Hedorah, where he perfectly portrayed the slime monster, Hedorah. He followed it up with the following year's Godzilla vs Gigan, where he played Gigan, a reptilian cyborg space monster. Incidentally, this film was also the legendary Haruo Nakajima's last turn as the King of the Monsters.
Satsuma reprised his role as Gigan for the following year's Godzilla vs. Megalon and a series named Zone Fighter. In 1984, Kenpachiro Satsuma finally took on the mantle from Nakajima. He donned the suit of Godzilla in The Return of Godzilla, a more mature soft reboot follow-up to the 1954 original film that ignored the last 14.
The film was beloved by fans worldwide. It became so popular that even then-North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Il was a fan. Using the services of a kidnapped South Korean moviemaker, Shin Sang-ok, and a few tricked Toho employees, Kim Jong Il secured the services of Satsuma to even star in a propaganda Monster film made on a shoestring budget in 1985, Pulgasari.
Satsuma would go on to reprise his role of Godzilla in 7 more sequels, including Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, and finally Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, along with a short named Monster Planet of Godzilla.
The suit that marked Satsuma's first turn as the monster was bulky, clamped, cheap, and weighed 250 pounds. In his final turn as the monster, one scene shows the King of the Monsters exuding steam. For this to happen, carbon dioxide was manually pumped into the claustrophobic suit, making Kenpachiro Satsuma lose consciousness at a point.
Kenpachiro Satsuma also starred as Yamata no Orochi, the legendary 8-headed dragon in 1994's Yamato Takeru. According to IMDb, Satsuma's final acting credit came in 2002's Kawana Mariko: Sakuragai no amai mizu. The mantle was carried on by Tsutomu Kitagawa, who played Godzilla in 1999's Godzilla 2000: Millennium.
