Shoichi Hirose

Shoichi Hirose (Japanese: 広瀬 正一 , Hepburn: Hirose Shōichi , June 23, 1918 – late 1990s) , occasionally miscredited as Masakazu Hirose and nicknamed Solomon (ソロモン , Soromon ) for his survival in the naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons, was a Japanese actor. Hirose portrayed Godzilla's archenemy King Ghidorah and King Kong in King Kong vs. Godzilla, along with several "tough guy" roles.

In 1950, he started working at the Toho, where he played minor roles in films. Due to the popularity of the kaijū-eiga genre, he was interested in playing the monster in one of these films. This opportunity arose in 1962, when Eiji Tsuburaya offered him the role of King Kong in the emerging King Kong vs. Godzilla. Tsuburaya ordered Hirose to go to the zoo and study gorilla behavior in order to better play the role of a monster. In later years, Hirose confessed that he never went to the zoo and then lied to Tsuburaya, saying that he had gained a lot of experience during the alleged visit. Despite his enthusiasm for working with the special effects team, he had difficulty playing King Kong, because the zipper sewn into the costume (in order to hide it) forced him to stay in it for a long time: “Sweat was pouring out of me and even getting into my eyes. After I left [the costume] I was pale."

The next role in a kaijū-type movie was King Ghidorah in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster in 1964, which he received after Haruya Sakamoto, who played him, quit due to his overweight suit. A year later he repeated the role in the Invasion of Astro-Monster. Equally, the film's special effects directors Koichi Kawakita and Teruyoshi Nakano, then assistants to the special effects operator, believed that King Ghidorah in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster was played by Kōji Uruki, who also played Rodan. Kawakita was of the opinion that Hirose could not play Ghidorah due to his short stature.

Hirose was Eiji Tsuburaya's first choice for the role of Sanda in The War of the Gargantuas in 1966, however, he declined, preferring a role he was offered in another film where he could show his face.

In 1971, during the financial crisis that hit Japan, all actors contracted with Toho were restructured, and Hirose remained in the studio as a stage worker, where he worked until the 1990s. However, at the same time, he suffered from a herniated disc and was admitted to the Tokyo Labor Disaster Hospital in Tokyo. He died shortly after living in a nursing home for several years, but the exact date of his death is unknown.