Actor Akira Kobayashi (87) appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on May 14th, where he shared memories of Showa-era superstar Yujiro Ishihara.
In the 1960s, during Nikkatsu's golden age, Kobayashi and Yujiro Ishihara were equally popular. When Tetsuko asked, "Did Yujiro join Nikkatsu without taking an exam?", Kobayashi recalled, "He was treated with great care from the very beginning because he was the star Yujiro Ishihara."
He revealed that he first saw Yujiro at the film studio. "The actors told me, 'The star has arrived,' and when I looked, he was getting out of a car. His bare feet came out, and I was like, 'Wow,' but then I realized he was wearing rubber sandals. He had tied his aloha shirt in the front and was wearing red swim trunks, and I thought he looked incredibly cool. I was really surprised," he said, describing the shock he felt.
I became close to Yujiro when we played brothers in the movie "Rusty Knife." He took me out saying, "Hey, let's go to Ginza."
"Back then in Ginza, word would spread that 'Yujiro is drinking over there.' Regular customers would pour in, and it would be a lively and friendly atmosphere. He would pour an entire ice bucket of brandy and pass it around to anyone and everyone to drink from. Or he would cut a melon in half, pour brandy into it, and make people drink from it. He was doing all sorts of crazy things," he said, recounting some of Yujiro's flamboyant anecdotes.
