Author: Daisuke Ishizuka Mr. Satoshi Furuya (he often uses Bin Furuya as his stage name) is well known by tokusatsu fans as the suit actor who played the title character in ULTRAMAN (???????????????, Urutoraman: Kuso Tokusatsu Shirizu, 1966-1967) and the actor who played Ultra Guard member Amagi in ULTRA SEVEN (???????, Urutorasebun, 1967-1968). On July 5th, 2014, more than 50 fans and friends gathered to celebrate his 71st birthday at Ebisu, Tokyo. The festivities began with Mr. Furuya being congratulated by Ms. Mari Shimizu, the voice actress who played Atom in the famous TV animation series MIGHTY ATOM (?????, Tetsuwan Atomu) that aired in the U.S. as ASTRO BOY. And Ms. Yoko Mizugaki -- the voice performer of Atom’s sister Uran -- also congratulated him. Both actresses are friends of Mr. Furuya and had worked with him in their youth. A special ULTRAMAN birthday cake were prepared for the party. The chef who made the cake said that he needed about two hours to decorate it. Many birthday presents were given to Mr. Furuya. An excellent one was a crystal with three words written by laser: "Yume", "Urutoraman" and "Furuya Satoshi" in Japanese (Dream, Ultraman and Satoshi Furuya). The birthday party was only scheduled to last two hours. However, the owner of the restaurant allowed the festivities to continue for an additional hour so we could enjoy the party with Mr. Furuya for a while longer. Happy 71st birthday, Mr. Furuya.
Mr. Furuya admires his cake. Photo courtesy of Daisuke Ishizuka.
For more information on Satoshi Furuya, please see his 2013 interview on SciFi JAPAN TV: