, is a former

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...

, actress and singer. She is best known for the role of

Miki Saegusa is a recurring fictional character from the Heisei series of ''Godzilla'' films. She is a psychic who uses her powers to communicate with and, in some instances, control the mutant dinosaur Godzilla, and is credited for being the most frequently r ...

in six

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

films from 1989 to 1995.

Biography

Megumi Odaka was born on May 9, 1972 in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

, Japan. She graduated from

Horikoshi High School is a private high school in Nakano, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Nakano City.Yasuko Sawaguchi is a Japanese actress. Biography She was born in Osaka. In early 1984, the Japanese movie studio Toho Company Ltd. held their first Toho Cinderella beauty contest, and Yasuko, almost 19 at the time, was chosen as the first Toho Cinderella, beati ...

, Odaka made her film debut as the blind girl Akeno in the film ''

Princess from the Moon is a 1987 Japanese film directed by Kon Ichikawa. It is based on ''The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'', a 10th-century Japanese fairy tale about a girl from the Moon who is discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. Plot One da ...

''. The following, year she won a

Japanese Academy Award The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

for "Rookie of the Year" for her performance in this film. In 1988, she starred in the TV series ''

Hana no Asuka-gumi! is a Japanese manga by Satosumi Takaguchi serialized in '' Monthly Asuka''. It was adapted into a television drama series, two live action films, two OVAs and two drama CDs. It is one of the series with delinquent girls ('' sukeb ...

'' as Asuka Kuraku along with

Natsuki Ozawa ; born April 19, 1972) is a Japanese singer, actress and AV actress who has appeared in mainstream films and adult videos. Life and career As a teenager, Ozawa had roles in two 1987 films, the youth action comedy '' Be-Bop High School: Koko yotar ...

and

Hikari Ishida (born May 25, 1972) is a Japanese actress. She starred along with Megumi Odaka and Natsuki Ozawa in the TV-series ''Hana no Asuka-gumi!''. She also released several singles and six albums and she had one minor hit with the song "Emerald no Suna ...

, based on a

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series about a 14-year-old delinquent girl.

Godzilla series

After playing roles in a number of TV series, Odaka landed the role of

in ''

Godzilla vs. Biollante is a 1989 Japanese ''kaiju'' film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori, with special effects by Koichi Kawakita. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 17th film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, the sec ...

'' in 1989 (although her character's back story was first introduced in the manga adaptation of 1984

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

). Toho was impressed with her acting skills and she reprised her role in the following installment and the rest of the Heisei Series. Prior to assuming the role, Odaka had never seen a ''Godzilla'' film, and was initially scared of the Godzilla suit until she befriended suit performer

Kenpachiro Satsuma , born is a Japanese actor who portrayed Godzilla in the Heisei films, from 1984 to 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 m ...

. Odaka was one of the few actors to play the same role in more than one original Japanese release of a Godzilla film (

Takashi Shimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in ''Drunken Angel'' (1948), ''Rashomon'' (1950), ''Ikiru'' (1952) an ...

played Dr. Kyouhei Yamane in the first two films,

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas ''Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career included roles ...

reprised his role as Steve Martin in the edited American releases ''

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'' and ''

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'',

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starred as Akane Yashiro in ''

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'' and returned briefly for its sequel '' Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.'', and finally

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who portrayed Emiko Yamane on the original 1954 ''Godzilla'' film reprised her role in a cameo appearance in '' Godzilla vs. Destroyah'').

Music career

Odaka also had a short singing career from 1988 to 1991, which spawned six singles and the two albums, '' Milky Cotton'' (1988) and ''

Powder Snow Classifications of snow describe and categorize the attributes of snow-generating weather events, including the individual crystals both in the air and on the ground, and the deposited snow pack as it changes over time. Snow can be classified ...

'' (1989). She also acted in several stage productions such as "Anne no aijou" (or "Anne no ai") aka "Anne's Love" or "Anne's Affection" in 1991, "Kiki's Delivery Service" in 1995, "Peter Pan" in 1996 and "Yana no ue no Violin-jiki" ("Violin Player on top of the Roof" or "Fiddler on the Roof") in 1994, 1996, and 1998.

Retirement

In 2000, Odaka declined a role in a stage adaptation of '' Phoenix (Hi no Tori)'' at the Osaka Shochikuza due to her illnesses. She then left Toho and announced her retirement. Odaka was not heard from until September 25, 2010, when she recorded a message for the . Since her retirement, she took several jobs such as office work and cosmetics sales.

Personal life

Odaka is married to actor and director . Since 2012, Odaka has participated as an actress and assistant director in Ugajin's theater class .

Filmography

Film

*''

'' (1987) *''

'' (1989) *''Gogeza Monogatari'' (1991) *''

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is a 1991 Japanese ''kaiju'' film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. The film, produced and distributed by Toho Studios, is the 18th film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and is the third film in the franchise ...

'' (1991) *''

Godzilla vs. Mothra is a 1992 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Takao Okawara, written by Kazuki Ōmori, and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 19th film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and is the fourth film in the ...

'' (1992) *'' Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II'' (1993) *'' Shoot!'' (1994) *'' Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla'' (1994) *''

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is a 1995 Japanese '' kaiju'' film directed by Takao Okawara. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 22nd installment in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and is the seventh and final film in the franchise's Heisei period. The film feat ...

'' (1995) * ''Hoshi 35'' (2023)

Television

*''

'' (1988) *''Seishun Kazoku'' (1989) *''Hey! Agari Icchou'' (1989) *''Ikenai Joshikou Monogatari'' (1990) *''Gekai Arimori Saeko'' (1990) (Episode 5) *''Genji Monogatari ue no Makishita no kan'' (1990) *''Anata Dake Mienai'' (1992) *''Yonimo Kimyouna Monogatari'' – Haru no Tokubetsu-hen (1992) *''Ude ni Oboe ari 2'' (1992) (Episode 5) *''Oushin Doctor Jiken no Karte'' (1992) (Episode 9) *''Kaseifu wa Mita!'' (1992) (Episode 11) *''

Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes (specials) in 2006. It was written by Japanese playwright Kōki Mitani and is often referred to as the Japanese version of ''Columbo'' ...

'' (1996) (2nd Season – Episode 14) *''Samurai Tantei Jiken'' (1997) (Episode 14) *''Hakui no Futari'' (1998) *''Hamidashi Keiji Jounetsu kei'' (2000) (4th Series – Episode 17)

Discography

Singles

* / (March 21, 1988) *"Blue Wind" / (July 6, 1988) * / (November 21, 1988) * / (March 21, 1989) * / (August 30, 1989) * / (February 21, 1991)

Albums

*'' Milky Cotton'' (September 7, 1988) *''

'' (November 29, 1989) *'' Odaka Megumi Best'' (aka: Emi Odaka Best) (August 21, 2002)

Photobooks

*''Whisper'' / ''Sasayaki'' (March 30, 1989) () *''TRY'' (05.11.1989) ()

References

External links

* (incomplete and partly incorrect) * (incomplete) {{DEFAULTSORT:Odaka, Megumi 1972 births Living people Actresses from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese women pop singers Japanese film actresses Japanese television actresses Japanese idols Musicians from Kanagawa Prefecture 20th-century Japanese actresses 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese actresses Horikoshi High School alumni