Interview with Hiroshi Watari Translation by: Tetsuya Shima -The interviewer : ???(Yu Tagami) From the book : "?????? -???????????????????- (Uchuu Keiji Taizen -Gavan Sharivan Shaider no Sekai-)" ISBN4-575-29080-7 Publisher : ??? (Futabasha) Editors : ????????????(Mikio Ando & Studio Hard)

SciFi Japan continues its coverage of the Space Sheriff series from Toei by presenting an interview with SHARIVAN actor Hiroshi Watari. -Please tell us why you joined JAC (Japan Action Club). I loved heroes like `Ultraman` and `Kamen Rider` from the beginning. I was also absolutely enthralled by Shinichi Chiba (Sonny Chiba) appearing on KEY HUNTER. I often mimicked Mr.Chiba for fun. When I was a junior high student, I wanted to become an actor. In those days a movie titled KENKA KARATE KYOKUSHINKEN (aka CHAMPION OF DEATH) starring Mr.Chiba was released. And Etsuko Shihomi appeared on KIKAIDA 01, and told how to start her career as a member of JAC in a magazine. So I got interested in JAC. When I was in 9th grade, I tried to visit the office of JAC in the summer. I went there from Niigata prefecture by overnight train. Shinkansen express didn`t exist yet. So this trip was a kind of an adventure for me. Unfortunately the office had been relocated, so I couldn`t reach it. Eventually I ended up going home on the same day. -Well... you couldn`t even find the office of JAC?

No. And my father objected strongly to my plan, so I went on to high school. But I still didn`t lose my fascination with JAC, so I joined the school`s gymnastics club. I thought I could develop the skills that were necessary for a stuntman by practicing parallel bars and horse vault. I watched CHOJIN BIBYUUN and I could see amazing stunts in the action scenes. I sometimes put mats on the floor of the gymnasium and jumped off the second floor. I still had a passion for stunts. So when I was the third grade in high school (junior), I went to Tokyo in the summer again. I told a lie to my dad : "I was asked to become a coach of gymnastics, so I`m going to training camp for a week." I tried to visit the office. On my way to the office I got astonished to be spoken to by a Shemale. (laugh) In the evening, I managed to reach the office. I entered the building, saying : "I`d like to join JAC.", then I heard a curt reply : "We are not accepting members now. Get home safe." I immediately got out of the building. But I didn`t want to let the chance go, so I came back to the office, saying : "I`m desperate to join JAC." Then I was told : "We will hold tryouts next March. Come here then." I was considering how to spend six days. So I came back again, saying : "I was wondering if I could possibly join the training."(laugh) Consequently I got permission to only observe the training. I got the address of the training gym. But the day of training was not for two days. So I sneaked into a storage area on the rooftop of the office, and stayed overnight there. -Wow! You are like Den Iga or an undercover agent I had nobody to count on in Tokyo and I was afraid to be talked to by a Shemale. In time it began to rain and I felt sadness. I can recall that night vividly. Anyway the training day came. It was a long-awaited moment. I watched their training and found `Battle Kenya`!(laugh) -It`s Kenji Ohba, isn`t it? Shihomi-san was also there, and I wanted to talk to her. So I talked to her : "I want to join JAC." I knew what she would say. "Please come to next March`s tryouts." she replied. I thought: "Wow! I`ve just talked with Etsuko Shihomi! My visiting Tokyo is paying off.", you know. Then I observed their training everyday until the day I returned home. After that I tried out for JAC next March and passed. -The tryout in those days was more highly competitive than it is today, wasn`t it? Yes. It was the time when MOMOCHI SANDAYU was released and Hiroyuki Sanada got great popularity. The number of applicants was 4,200 and only 40 passed. Only one out of one hundred passed.

-What is your first appearance? It`s STUNTMAN MONOGATARI (STUNTMAN STORY), whose leading actor was Mr.Sanada. It was performed in Shinjuku Koma Theater. We started run-through in June and gave a public performance in July and August. After that I acted some characters in TAIYOU SENTAI SUNVULCAN. Junji Yamaoka, the stunt coordinator took me for a small role. I usually acted as an android grunt, but I sometimes acted Vul Shark. Vul Shark was usually acted by Takanori Shibahara. But when we filmed a scene where Sunvulcan surrounded a monster and did a back flip, Mr.Shibahara acted Vul Eagle, so I was in a suit of Vul Shark instead of him. My real name is Hiroshi Watanabe so I was nicknamed `Nabe`. Yamaoka-san and other members of JAC called me Nabe in a friendly way. -Your experience of gymnastics helped you, didn`t it? I think so. At that time Mr.Chiba appeared in a commercial for alcohol beverage named `Warikka`. On the shooting day of the commercial film, I did Tsukibito for Mr. Chiba. (`Tsukibito` is a personal attendant to an important person.) I spent the time between takes with Mr. Chiba, but I was so nervous that I had no idea about what I should do. There was only silence... -But you had made a great progress since the day you just watched heroes on TV Exactly(laugh). From October I acted as Totem Pole Monger at SUNVULCAN Show in Kourakuen Yuuenchi (Kourakuen amusement park) until the end of November.

The shooting of DAI SENTAI GOGGLE-V started the next year. Junichi Haruta acted Kanpei Kuroda (Goggle Black), and he was also in a suit of Goggle Black. In episode 7, I got a chance to act as Goggle Black. I did a fight scene and then spoke: "It ran away." I also portrayed Tori Mozu, a monster in episode 2. Soon the filming of GAVAN started. In episode 1 I acted the part of Double Man, and Gavan in the scene where Gavan destroyed a building flying toward him by Laser Z Beam. The pose of Laser Z Beam was created by Osamu Kaneda, Minoru Yokoyama and me. -I haven`t known that you played such various roles. I am very surprised. It is not surprising that a newcomer of JAC must do various things. I was also in Gavan`s suit at scenes taken in closeup. Then Mr.Chiba told me to come to Kyoto to double for him. I doubled him in KAGE NO GUNDAN II (SHADOW WARRIORS II), KAGE NO GUNDAN III AND YAGYUU JUUBEE ABARETABI. -It`s amazing. Within less than a year you had done more than Mr. Ohba and Mr. Haruta ever did.

I was a successor of Akira Kurosaki then. It`s great honor of me to double for Mr. Chiba. After one year I went out on an audition for Den Iga (Sharivan). And few days later Mr.Chiba said : "You passed the audition." I was given my stage name, "Hiroshi Watari." Right after I made a guest appearance in GAVAN, the shooting of SHARIVAN started. I was nineteen years old back then. People around me said "Wow! You are the next leading role!" and "Keep high viewing rate." -You costarred with Kenji Ohba, didn`t you? Kenji-san was very tender. In episode 42 where Den Iga made his first appearance, he joked "Carrying you made my shoulder hurt."(laugh) All I could say was "I`m sorry." Then he laughed and said, "I`m joking."(laugh) -Playing the lead role would test not only your skill as a stuntman, but also your acting ability, didn`t it? Exactly. I had been developing acting skills, but I had no idea how much I would be recognized. When I watched SHARIVAN`s episode 1 I thought: "No! I was a bad actor!"(laugh). It was terrible, I felt. At first I tried to act comically like Kenji-san and Mr.Chiba but I couldn`t. When I costarred with Kenji-san in SHARIVAN, we subconsciously competed with each other. After all Kenji-san was much better than me. Consequently all I could do was just to do my best without any cheap tricks. In GAVAN, Kenji-san left the impression that UCHUU-KEIJI was filled with breathtaking action scenes even before transforming [into a superhero], so I felt a lot of pressure to hold the impression. I wasn`t good at theatrical combat, so I owe a lot to the actors who played the enemies. -Jun Murakami was in suit of Sharivan as well as Gavan. How well did you get along with him?

We were linked by fate, I believe. When I was a new-comer to JAC, I saw someone wearing workout outfits of JAC calling from a pay phone on my way home. I greeted him and he was Mr. Murakami. We lived in the same apartment house. Murakami`s room was on the first floor and mine the second. So Mr. Murakami often came to my room, saying "Hey, make some coffee for me" or "I`m starving. Cook Yakisoba (fried noodles) for me."(laugh) I cooked Yakisoba, wondering why he knew Yakisoba was in the fridge. During filming of SHARIVAN, we were always together. He sometimes gave me advice. For example, he taught me how to look cool while landing on the ground. I guess he did it in return for coffee and Yakisoba.(laugh) -How well did you get along with Yumiko Furuya as Lily? She was twenty-four years old back then so I felt she was my big sister. She got intimate with Mr. Murakami in the middle stage of the series. She said "Itterasshai (Have a good day)" and saw Mr. Murakami off on the days when Lily didn`t have shooting. I wondered why she was in Murakami`s room back then (laugh). -After SHARIVAN`s filming ended, they married, didn`t they?

Yes, they are still happy now. We were all like family back then, so I could enjoy filming. -Please tell us about the filming of the final episode Kenji-san told that he wanted to do a fighting scene with me. I wondered if we could really do it, then I found Mr. Kaneda (stunt coordinator) in the bus heading for the shooting site, so I realized we really would do it. Actually when Retsu and Den met at the foot of Mt. Fuji, they did fighting-like action. This scene wasn`t in the original script. Kenji-san came up with the idea. After finishing all of the filming, I felt very lonely. The suit actors and other staff kept busy with preparing SHAIDER, but I didn`t. I thought that`s the destiny of the leading actor. I was supposed to work on stage after twenty days, and it seemed much longer to me. The three year-long period before I started to act SHARIVAN was filled with constant challenges for me. In those days I showed up at the stage show in Kourakuen Yuuenchi, and said to the audience: "You can watch the final episode of SHARIVAN soon, so please tune in." Looking back, I`m very happy to appear on the wonderful TV show created by the people with amazing skills. I would like to appear on such a nice TV show again. I think UCHUU KEIJI is comparable with ULTRAMAN and KAMEN RIDER, so I would be glad if a new series of UCHUU KEIJI is created. Den Iga is ready for supporting a new Uchuu Keiji. I encourage them to make a new series by submitting various proposals. I hope the publishing of this book will be the trigger for creating a new series. If there`s something I can do for the series, I`ll do it energetically. I`m looking forward to seeing you somewhere sometime! Stay Tuned to SciFi Japan for part 3 of our Space Sheriff Spotlight, featuring an interview with Hiroshi Tsuburaya from UCHUU KEIJI SHAIDER!