Kenpachirō Satsuma

Yasuaki Maeda (前田 靖昭, Maeda Yasuaki, 27 May 1947 – 16 December 2023), known professionally as Kenpachiro Satsuma (薩摩 剣八郎, Satsuma Kenpachirō), was a Japanese actor and stuntman. He is best known for portraying Godzilla in all seven of the Heisei films, from The Return of Godzilla (1984) to Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). Born in Kagoshima Prefecture, Satsuma began his acting career in the 1960s with small roles in samurai films. In 1971 he was offered the role of the smog monster antagonist Hedorah in Godzilla vs. Hedorah, opposite Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla. He went on to play Gigan in two further Godzilla films. When Nakajima retired from the Godzilla role in 1972, substitutes were hired between 1973 and 1975 until Satsuma took over permanently in 1984. His portrayal took the character away from the humor of the character's portrayals over the past decades, returning to the more animalistic Godzilla persona of the original 1954 film. While filming Godzilla movies, Satsuma would regularly pass ou... ()