Sakai Sachio

Sakai Sachio (born Abe Yukio) was a Japanese actor known for his tall, timid demeanor and prominent ears. Author Stuart Galbraith IV once compared his screen presence to that of Shemp Howard.

Sakai graduated from an industrial vocational school before being accepted into Toho’s very first “New Face” actors’ training class in 1946, alongside actor Mifune Toshirô. He immediately made his film debut in Kurosawa Akira’s One Wonderful Sunday (1947), and would go on to appear in a number of films for Kurosawa, Okamoto Kihachi, Inagaki Hiroshi, and Honda Ishirô.

Sakai became a staple supporting player at Toho. In Inagaki’s Samurai trilogy, Sakai inherited the prominent role of Matahachi starting in the second film, replacing actor Mikuni Rentarô. He was also a recurring actor in the popular Young Guy series starring Kayama Yûzô.

In the sci-fi genre, Sakai is perhaps best remembered as the reporter Hagiwara in the original Godzilla (1954), a character whose function in the narrative was largely replaced by Raymond Burr’s character in the 1956 American localized version. He also appeared as a reporter in Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) and had memorable turns in The Secret of the Telegian (1960) and Space Amoeba (1970).