Hiroshi Fujioka Remembers Shigeru Araki

Hiroshi Fujioka, the original Kamen Rider, spoke to Sports Houchi on April 15, 2012 following the death of Shigeru Araki, his co-star from Kamen Rider Stronger, who died the day before at age 63. “He was like a younger brother to me,” Fujioka said. “It was far too soon.”

The two had worked together across multiple projects, including the final episode of Kamen Rider Stronger, where Fujioka appeared as Takeshi Hongo alongside Araki’s Shigeru Jo, and the series Tokusou Saizensen. Fujioka recalled one scene from that show in particular, in which his character encouraged Araki’s to take up smoking to relax during a tense moment, a small detail he said had stuck with him.

Fujioka said the two had reconnected roughly three years before Araki’s death, with Araki telling him he wanted to keep working alongside their fellow Rider actors. Their last meeting had been in January of that same year, at the wake of their mutual Tokusou co-star Hideaki Nitani, a brief encounter Fujioka said gave no indication of what was to come. “He looked well, so I thought he would be fine,” he said.