Kenpachiro Satsuma

Kenpachiro Satsuma Born May 27, 1947 Izumi, Kagoshima, Japan Died December 16, 2023 (aged 76) Occupation Suit actor Notable role(s) Hedorah, Gigan, Godzilla, Pulgasari, Yamata no Orochi First work Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) Notable work The Return of Godzilla (1984)

“	I can hardly call it acting, but I talk big about it now!	„
	— Kenpachiro Satsuma on his role as Hedorah

Kenpachiro Satsuma (薩摩 剣八郎,   Satsuma Kenpachirō), real name Yasuaki Maeda (前田 靖昭,   Maeda Yasuaki) and formerly known by the stage names Kengo Nakayama (中山 剣吾,   Nakayama Kengo) and Ryuma Kusaka (久坂 龍馬,   Kusaka Ryūma), was a Japanese stuntman. Satsuma worked as a suit actor in the Godzilla films of the 1970s, starring as the villainous monsters Hedorah and Gigan, opposite his friend and mentor Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla. Satsuma returned to play Godzilla himself in the 1984 film The Return of Godzilla, and would reprise the role through the rest of the Heisei series, with his final portrayal of the character coming in 1995's Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Satsuma passed away at age 76 on December 16, 2023, due to complications from interstitial pneumonia.

Selected filmography

Actor

• Return of Ultraman (TV 1971-1972) as MAT base guard [episode 31; as Kengo Nakayama]
• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) as Hedorah [as Kengo Nakayama]
• Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) as Gigan [as Kengo Nakayama]
• Thunder Mask (TV 1972-1973) as Thunder Mask [as Kengo Nakayama]
• Ultraman Ace (TV 1972-1973) [episodes 13-14; as Kengo Nakayama]
• Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) as Gigan [as Kengo Nakayama]
• Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974) [as Kengo Nakayama]
• The Return of Godzilla (1984) as Godzilla
• Pulgasari (1985) as Pulgasari
• Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) as Godzilla
• Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) as Godzilla
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) as Godzilla
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) as Godzilla
• Monster Planet of Godzilla (1994) as Godzilla
• Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994) as Yamata no Orochi
• Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) as Godzilla
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) as Godzilla

Interviewee

• Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1998)
• Bringing Godzilla Down to Size (2008)
• The Dawn of Kaiju Eiga (2019)

Gallery

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  Kenpachiro Satsuma coming out of Hedorah

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  Satsuma as Hedorah and Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla

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  Satsuma as Gigan

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  Satsuma shakes hands with "Hurricane" Ryu Hariken on the set of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

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  Satsuma as Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Mothra

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  Kenpachiro Satsuma alongside Showa Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima

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  Kenpachiro Satsuma alongside fellow Godzilla suit actors Tsutomu Kitagawa and Haruo Nakajima

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  Memorial at Toho Studios

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  Memorial at Toho Studios

Videos

2018 G-Fest panel

Trivia

• Satsuma suffered acute appendicitis while promoting Godzilla vs. Hedorah, which required surgery. During the procedure, he discovered that he was unaffected by painkillers, forcing the doctor to knock him out with chloroform. Satsuma wore part of the Hedorah costume for an interview just before his diagnosis, giving rise to an urban legend that the surgery had taken place with him still inside the suit.
• Satsuma reported that while playing Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, the smoke given off by the suit was concentrated carbon monoxide. This would lead to him passing out multiple times during production.

External links

• Interview by David Milner (December 1993, archived)
• Interview by David Milner (July 1994, archived)
• Interview by David Milner (December 1995, archived)
• Interview by John Rocco Roberto (1999, archived)
• Interview by Kyle Yount (May 2014)

References

This is a list of references for Kenpachiro Satsuma. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

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