Kenji Uozaki

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Kenji Uozaki
Kenji Uozaki in Varan
Species Human
Nationality Japanese
Occupation Science studentJP, journalistUS
Related to Shidori Iso (wife)US
First appearance Varan
Played by Kozo Nomura

Kenji Uozaki (魚崎 健二,   Uozaki Kenji) is a student of science, and serves as the main protagonist in the 1958 kaiju film Varan. In the 1962 American cut of the film, he was known as Paul Iso, and was a renowned journalist.

History

Showa era

Varan

After two of his colleagues were killed in an expedition to the Tohoku region of Japan, Kenji was sent to investigate along with his colleague Horiguchi, and reporter Yuriko Shinjo. After they got off the bus in a nearby town, they hiked through the forest where they found the village of Iwaya, where a dance of worship to the god Baradagi was taking place. Baradagi roared during the ceremony, and caused a boy to run after his dog into Baradagi's sanctuary, prompting Kenji and his friends to chased after him onto the forbidden ground. They lost Yuriko in the fog, and had to return to the village to ask for help. At that time, the dog returned with a note from Yuriko, saying that she and the boy were safe and would wait near a lake for the fog to clear. Kenji and the villagers then went into the valley to find them. Shortly after Kenji and the villagers found them, Baradagi rose from the lake. When everyone was safely back in the village, Kenji identified Baradagi as a Varan, which was believed to be long since extinct. The three soon returned with the military, who planned to shell the creature, but to no avail. In the retreat, Kenji and Yuriko were separated, and he had to go back for her. They then became trapped in a cave with Varan clawing at the entrance, but the military was able to scare it away with flares. Kenji, Yuriko, and Horiguchi were later passengers on a submarine that was used in an attempt to destroy Varan with depth charges, which failed as well. Kenji then drove a truck that would deliver a special mining bomb to Varan. He narrowly escaped, but Varan was left, again, unscathed. After Varan swallowed explosives, Kenji and the others rushed to the beach to watch him retreat.

Varan, the Unbelievable

Paul was a well known journalist along with his wife Shidori. They were so renowned that it was said that wherever there was a story, the two of them could be found. On hearing that the Japanese military were planning to force a village on the island of Kunoshirashima to evacuate with weapons and troops, they arrived as soon as they could. There, Shidori met with her old friend Anna Bradley, whom she had not seen since college seven years before. She warned Anna that her husband, Captain James Bradley, the man overseeing a chemical test on a local lake that would contaminate the sacred lake of the Koshida villagers had been gaining a reputation as a tyrant in Tokyo. He amended his experiment to not displace the villagers, and Shidori and her husband reported on strange local rituals and aspects of Bradley's experiment. While in the nearby Kushutu village, the giant monster Obaki emerged from the lake and began rampaging in the countryside. It destroyed the city before going into the ocean. It later re-emerged to attack the city of Oneda where she and her husband were staying. When they received word from Captain Bradley that his store of chemical cannisters might be able to defeat the monster, with instructions that Paul should deliver them. Paul drove them to the detonation site, despite Shidori's worries. The two then watched as Obaki ran dying into the sea.

Gallery

Trivia

  • In the U.S. cut of the film, Shidori can still be heard referring to her husband as "Kenji-san" while he drives away with the chemical weapons used to destroy Varan. This can be attributed either to ignorance of the Japanese language, or a simple matter of not caring.

Comments

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