Ishirō Honda

Honda practicing Kendo in the late 1920s

Honda was born in Asahi, Yamagata Prefecture (now part of the city of Tsuruoka),[14][15][16] the fifth and youngest child of Hokan and Miyo Honda. His father Hokan was the abbot of Honda Ryuden-in temple.[14] Having been born in the year of the boar, his name is a combination derived from the Japanese words for boar ("Inoshishi") and fourth son ("shiro").[3][17] He had three brothers: Takamoto, Ryokichi, Ryuzo, and one sister: Tomi, who died during her childhood.[18] Honda's father and grandfather were both Buddhist monks at Churen-ji, a temple in Mount Yudono, where the Hondas lived in a dwelling on the temple's property. The Hondas grew rice, potatoes, daikon radishes, and carrots, and also made and sold miso and soy sauce. The family also received income from a silk moth farm managed by one of Honda's brothers. Honda's father earned income during the summers by selling devotions in Iwate Prefecture, Akita Prefecture, and Hokkaido and would return home before the winter.[17]

While Honda's brothers were given religious tutoring at sixteen, Honda was learning about science.[17] Takamoto, who became a military doctor, encouraged Honda to study and sent him scientific magazines to help, which started Honda's love for reading and scientific curiosity.[19] In 1921, when Honda was ten, Hokan became the abbot at Io-ji temple in Tokyo,[14] and the family moved into the Takaido neighborhood in Suginami. Though he was an honors student back home, Honda's grades declined in Tokyo and in middle school; he struggled with subjects involving equations such as chemistry, biology, and algebra.[20]

After his father transferred to another temple, Honda enrolled in the Tachibana Elementary school in Kawasaki and later in Kogyokusha Junior High where Honda studied kendo, archery, and athletic swimming but quit after tearing his Achilles tendon.[21] Honda met Kimi Yamazaki in 1937 and proposed marriage to her in 1939. Honda's parents and Kimi's mother were supportive, but Kimi's father was opposed to the sudden engagement. Though Kimi's father never approved of her marriage, he nonetheless sent her ¥1,000 upon learning of her pregnancy. Rather than having a traditional wedding ceremony, the two simply signed papers at city hall, paid their respects at Meiji Shrine, and went home.[22]

Honda in China, late 1930s

At twenty-three years old, Honda was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army in the fall of 1934. Despite receiving a passing grade on his physical examination, he was not required to report for immediate duty. While waiting for his call-up, Honda continued working at P.C.L. Honda was then called to duty in January 1935 and was enlisted into the First Division, First Infantry Regiment in Tokyo. At the time, Honda began his training at the entry-level rank of Ippeisotsu, the equivalent of Petty Officer First Class.[27]

In 1936, Honda's former commanding officer, Yasuhide Kurihara, launched a coup against the civilian government, what would be called the February 26 Incident. Though Honda had no involvement with the coup, everyone associated with Kurihara were considered dangerous and the brass wanted them gone and as a result, Honda and his regiment were sent to Manchukuo in 1936, under questionable pretense. Honda would have completed his 18 remaining months of service had it not been for the coup and would be recalled to service again and again for the remainder of the war.[28]

Honda was recalled to service in mid-December 1939, a week before his daughter, Takako, was due to be born.[29] Having already risen in rank, Honda was able to visit his wife and daughter in the hospital but had to leave afterwards immediately to China.[30] Between 1940 and 1941, Honda was assigned to manage a "comfort station", a euphemism for brothels established in occupied areas. Honda would later write an essay titled Reflections of an Officer in Charge of Comfort Women published in Movie Art Magazine in April 1966, detailing his experiences and other comfort women's experiences working in comfort stations.[31]

Honda would then return home in December 1942, only to find that P.C.L. (now rebranded as Toho by that point) were forced to produce propaganda to support the war effort. The government took control of the Japanese film industry in 1939, modeling the passage of motion picture laws after Nazi policies where scripts and films were reviewed so they supported the war effort and filmmakers noncompliant were punished or worse.[32] Honda's son, Ryuji, was born on 31 January 1944, however, Honda received another draft notice in March 1944. He was assigned to head for the Philippines but his unit missed the boat and were sent back to China instead. To Honda's fortune, the conflict in China was less intense than it was in the Pacific and South-East Asia. Honda became a sergeant and was in charge of trading and communicating with civilians. Honda never ordered the Chinese as a soldier and was respectful to them as much as possible.[33]

Honda was eventually captured by the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and relocated to an area between Beijing and Shanghai for a year before the war ended. During his imprisonment, Honda stated to have been treated well and was even befriended by the locals and temple monks, who offered him to stay permanently but Honda respectfully refused in favor of finding his wife and children. As a parting gift, the locals gave Honda rubbings of Chinese proverbs, imprinted from stone carvings of temples. Honda would later write these verses in the back of his screenplays.[34]

During his final tour, Honda escaped death near Hankou when a mortar shell landed before him but did not detonate. When the battle ended, Honda later returned to retrieve the shell and took it back home to Japan where he placed it on top of his desk in his private study until his death.[35] Honda then returned home in March 1946; however, throughout most of his life, even as an old man, Honda would have nightmares about the war twice or thrice a year.[36] During his entire military service, Honda served three tours, with a total of six years serving at the front.[37]

In late 1992, Akira Kurosawa hosted a party for the cast and crew of Madadayo following the completion of principal photography. Honda appeared to be suffering from cold symptoms at the party, and called his son Ryuji in New York. Ryuji believed Honda was drunk and thought it strange that he called him.[54] Then, in mid-February 1993, Kurosawa, Honda, and Masahiko Kumada, the unit manager, attended a screening of The Stranger, Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray's last film, at an art-house cinema.[54] After watching the film, Kurosawa invited Honda to his house for dinner and drinks, but Honda felt sick and went home. Honda was declared healthy following a checkup in December 1992, and no major illnesses were suspected. Although his cough kept getting worse, his family doctor diagnosed him with a common cold.[55] Initially, Honda stayed in bed for a week, but after he lost his appetite, he underwent X-rays and blood tests. Honda was immediately told to seek hospital treatment following the results. Knowing something was wrong with his health, Honda had already packed his bags. Within ten minutes of leaving home, he was taken to Kono Medical Clinic, a 19-bed facility in Soshigaya. Because the major hospitals were full, he was placed in a tiny room.[55]

A room in a bigger hospital was about to be assigned to Honda, so his friends could visit him. In the following days, Honda contracted pleurisy, a condition that causes difficulty breathing, and on February 27, just after returning home from visiting hours, Kimi and Takako received an urgent call: Honda's vital signs had suddenly deteriorated.[55] Throughout the night, Kimi and Takado stayed by Honda's side to watch as he fought for his life; however, at 11:30 pm on February 28, 1993, he passed away peacefully from respiratory failure at Kono Medical Center.[56][57] A memorial service was held at Joshoji Kaikan, an assembly hall in Setagaya, for Honda's friends, family, and colleagues on March 6.[58] Honda's funeral reunited Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, an actor who had starred in both Honda's and Kurosawa's early films. The Japan Economic Newswire reported that Mifune was among the mourners at the funeral: "[Kurosawa and Mifune] made eye contact and hugged in tears at the funeral for their mutual friend."[59]

Honda's cremated remains were buried at Tama Cemetery, the largest municipal cemetery in Japan where notables like Isoroku Yamamoto and Yukio Mishima rest. His family later moved the grave to Fuji Cemetery, known for its abundant cherry blossoms.[53] Honda's wife Kimi would pass away on November 3, 2018, aged 101. This was also Godzilla's 64th anniversary.[60]

The episode, "Tagumo Attacks!!!" in the television series Legends of Tomorrow is based around Ishirō Honda. The central plotline of the episode involves Tagumo, a creature that Ishirō has written, which becomes a reality due to a magic book that belongs to Brigid, the Celtic goddess of art. It is described as a "land octopus" that will destroy Tokyo, unless the protagonists can stop it (it resembles a kraken-esque creature). At the end of the episode, the character, Mick Rory tells Ishirō to "Forget about the octopus. Lizards. Lizards are king." In this fictional universe, this will lead Ishirō to creating the character Godzilla, as he states in the episode "The King... of the Monsters. I like that".[128] Honda and Ray Harryhausen were given dedications in the 2013 film Pacific Rim.[129]

• Eiji Tsuburaya's Realm of Tokusatsu (in Japanese). Keibunsha. 2001. ISBN 4-7669-3848-8.
• Higuchi, Naofumi (2011). Good Morning Godzilla: The Golden Age of the Movie Studio and Director Ishiro Honda (in Japanese) (2nd ed.). Kokusho Kankokai. ISBN 978-4336054043.
• Honda, Kimi; Nishida, Miyuki (17 December 2012). Godzilla's Trunk: The Love of Husband Ishiro Honda, the Friendship of Akira Kurosawa (in Japanese). Takarajimasha. ISBN 978-4800205643.
• Mamiya, Naohiko (1 January 2000). Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (in Japanese). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4091014702.
• Nakamura, Tetsu; Shiraishi, Masahiko; Aita, Tetsuo; Tomoi, Taketo; Shimazaki, Jun; Maruyama, Takeshi; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Hayakawa, Masaru (29 November 2014). Godzilla Toho Champion Festival Perfection (in Japanese). ASCII MEDIA WORKS. ISBN 978-4048669993.
• Sahara, Kenji (2005). A Wonderful Life in Tokusatsu (in Japanese). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4093875974.
• Takarada, Akira (August 1998). Godzilla: The Golden Legend of Japan (in Japanese). Fusosha Publishing. ISBN 4594025358.
• Takeuchi, Hiroshi (April 2000). The Complete Works of Ishiro Honda (in Japanese). Asahi Sonorama. ISBN 978-4257035923.
• Tsuruta, Yoshihisa (1985). The Art of Kurosawa Films (in Japanese). Gakken. ISBN 4051016994.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ishirō Honda.

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• Official website (in Japanese)
• Official English-language website (archived)
• Official website created to commemorate Honda's 100th birthday (in Japanese)
• Ishirô Honda at IMDb
• Ishirō Honda at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
• Ishirō Honda at the official Toho website (in Japanese)
• Ishirō Honda at the National Film Archive of Japan (in Japanese)
• Ishirô Honda at Rotten Tomatoes