THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
March 18, 2022 at 16:30 JST
Actor Akira Takarada (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Akira Takarada, an actor who starred in the first “Godzilla” movie and later became a peace activist, died of pneumonia on March 14. He was 87.
Born on the Korean Peninsula when it was under Japan’s colonial rule, Takarada and his family eventually moved to Manchuria and returned to Japan after the end of World War II.
Takarada was chosen as one of the new actors for Toho Co. in 1953, and he played the lead role in “Godzilla” the following year.
In addition to starring in various movies, Takarada took to the stage and appeared in Japanese versions of such musicals as “My Fair Lady,” “Kiss Me Kate” and “Gone with the Wind.”
In his later years, he became more active in the peace movement, due in part to his childhood experiences in wartime China as well as the background to Godzilla, a monster formed through exposure to radiation from a hydrogen bomb test.
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