Original Ultraman Actor Satoshi Furuya Hosts Birthday Show

Author: Daisuke Ishizuka Mr. Satoshi "Bin" Furuya is well known to 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).?He was born on July 5th, 1943, recently turning 72 years old.

In recent years Mr. Furuya has celebrated his birthdays with close friends and fans. In 2014, his birthday party was held at a restaurant in Ebisu, Tokyo. This year, his birthday celebration was upgraded and held as a show. Mr. Satoshi Furuya’s ULTRA Birthday Show was held on July 12th in Ginza, Tokyo. Approximately 100 tokusatsu fans gathered to see and celebrate him. The event began with an autograph session as Mr. Furuya signed items for fans. Afterwards, the stage show started as Mr. Furuya sang popular Japanese songs and danced while wearing a kimono. Then, the attendees raised their glasses as tokusatsu fan Ms. Akiko Yamashita took the stage to lead a cheer for Mr. Furuya. Next, Mr. Furuya changed his outfit for a discussion about Mr. Toru "Tohl" Narita, the legendary art designer of Tsuburaya Productions` series like ULTRA Q, ULTRAMAN, ULTRA SEVEN and MIGHTY JACK (????????, Maiti Jakku, 1968). Mr. Narita had strongly recommended him as the suit actor for Ultraman. Mr. Furuya said he would never have played Ultraman were it not for Mr. Narita. Mr. Furuya changed his clothes one more time for the final session. Many of his friends gathered with him onstage. Among the guests were 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. Both actresses had attended last year`s celebration, and were very happy to congratulate him this year. Also in attendance was movie director Mr. Minoru Kawasaki. A longtime fan of Mr. Furuya, Mr. Kawasaki often offered him roles in his own movies, including 2008`s MONSTER X STRIKES BACK/ ATTACK THE G8 SUMMIT! (??????????????????, Girara no Gyakushu Samitto Kiki Ippatsu!). After the greetings from his friends, a young tokusatsu fan gave a present to Mr. Furuya. The attendess sang the ULTRAMAN theme song and did Ultraman`s Specium Ray pose with Mr. Furuya as the finale of the event. Happy 72nd birthday, Mr. Furuya! Satoshi Furuya will be appearing -- along with original Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima, Millennium Godzilla suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa and Toho monster designer Shinji NIshikawa -- at Monster-Mania Con in Cherry Hill, NJ the weekend of July 31-August 2. Visit the Monster-Mania website for more details.

For more information on Satoshi Furuya, please see his 2013 interview on SciFi JAPAN TV: