Man arrested for selling AI-colorized pirated 1954 "Godzilla" film
A man in Osaka Prefecture has been arrested for allegedly selling a pirated version of the 1954 black-and-white film "Godzilla," which he apparently colorized using artificial intelligence, police said Tuesday.
Ippei Miyamoto, a 66-year-old part-time worker, is accused of having sold the DVD -- which features the iconic fire-breathing, city-stomping giant reptilian monster -- for 2,980 yen ($21) to a man in Tokyo last November.
Police suspect Miyamoto used AI-equipped software to add color and produce the DVD.
Miyamoto, who was arrested on Monday, has admitted to the charge, saying, "I sold it knowing it was a crime."
He is also believed to have sold about 1,500 fake DVDs, ranging from 3,000 yen to 30,000 yen, on online flea market websites from January 2024 to May 2025, earning at least 1.7 million yen, according to the police.
He had advertised the films as being "legal" and "masterpieces colored by AI."
Toho Co., which distributes and owns the copyright to the long-running Godzilla franchise, filed a complaint with the police in February this year, leading authorities to search Miyamoto's house on Monday and confiscate about 70 DVDs.
The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, of which Toho is a member, said that it has been aware that pirated color copies of films had been circulating and vowed to strengthen its watch over unauthorized production.
Related coverage:
Japan's latest Godzilla film wins Oscar for best visual effects
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Japan Today
12 hours ago
- Japan Today
Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito revisit ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' for its 50th anniversary
This image released by Fathom Entertainment shows Jack Nicholson, seated left, and Danny DeVito, seated right, with supporting cast in a scene from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." (Fathom Entertainment via AP) By LINDSEY BAHR Jack Nicholson did not want to go to the Oscars. It was 1976 and he was nominated for best actor in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' The Miloš Forman film, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a nationwide theatrical re-release on July 13 and July 16, had become a bit of a sensation — the second highest grossing picture of 1975, behind 'Jaws,' and had received nine Oscar nominations. But Nicholson wasn't feeling optimistic. In five years, he'd already been nominated five times. He'd also lost five times. And he told his producer, Michael Douglas, that he couldn't go through it again. 'I remember how hard I had to persuade Jack to come to the ceremony. He was so reluctant, but we got him there,' Douglas said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. 'And then of course we lost the first four awards. Jack was sitting right in front of me and sort of leaned back and said 'Oh, Mikey D, Mikey D, I told you, man.' I just said, 'Hang in there.'' Douglas, of course, was right. 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' would go on to sweep the 'big five' — screenplay, director, actor, actress and picture — the first film to do so in 41 years, ('It Happened One Night,' in 1934) which only 'The Silence of the Lambs' has done since. That night was one of many vindicating moments for a film that no one wanted to make or distribute that has quite literally stood the test of time. 'This is my first 50th anniversary,' Douglas said. 'It's the first movie I ever produced. To have a movie that's so lasting, that people get a lot out of, it's a wonderful feeling. It's bringing back a lot of great memories.' The film adaption of Ken Kesey's countercultural novel was a defining moment for Douglas, a son of Hollywood who was stuck in television and got a lifeline to film when his father, Kirk Douglas, gave him the rights to the book, and many of the then-unknown cast like Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd. DeVito was actually the first person officially cast. Douglas, who'd known him for nearly 10 years, brought Forman to see him play Martini on stage. 'Miloš said, 'Yes! Danny! Perfect! Cast!' Douglas said in his best Czech accent. 'It was a big moment for Danny. But I always knew how talented he was.' Though the film's themes are challenging, unlike many of its New Hollywood contemporaries it wasn't a tortured shoot by any stretch. They had their annoyances (like Forman refusing to show the cast dailies) and more serious trials (they found out halfway through production that William Redfield was dying of leukemia), but for the most part it was fun. 'We were very serious about the work, because Miloš was very serious. And we had the material, Kesey's work, and the reverence for that. We were not frivolous about it. But we did have a ball doing it,' DeVito said, laughing. Part of that is because they filmed on location at a real state hospital in Salem, Oregon. Everyone stayed in the same motel and would board the same bus in the morning to get to set. It would have been hard not to bond and even harder if they hadn't. 'There was full commitment,' Douglas said. 'That comes when you don't go home at night to your own lives. We stopped for lunch on the first day and I saw Jack kind of push his tray away and go outside to get some air. I said, 'Jack, you OK?' He said, 'Who are these guys? Nobody breaks character! It's lunch time and they're all acting the same way!'' Not disproving Nicholson's point, DeVito remembers he and the cast even asked if they could just sleep in the hospital. 'They wouldn't let us,' DeVito said. 'The floor above us had some seriously disturbed people who had committed murder.' The film will be in theaters again on July 13 and July 16 from Fathom Entertainment. It's a new 4K restoration from the Academy Film Archive and Teatro Della Pace Films with an introduction by Leonard Maltin. 'It's a gorgeous print and reminds me how good the sound was,' Douglas said. DeVito thinks it, 'holds up in a really big way, because Miloš really was paying attention to all great things in the screenplay and the story originally.' Besides the shock of 'holy Toledo, am I that old?' DeVito said that it was a treasure to be part of — and he continues to see his old friends, including Douglas, Lloyd and, of course, Nicholson, who played the protagonist, R.P. McMurphy. One person Douglas thinks hasn't gotten the proper attention for his contributions to 'Cuckoo's Nest' is producer Saul Zaentz, who died in 2014. His music company, Fantasy Records who had Creedence Clearwater Revival, funded the endeavor which started at a $1.6 million budget and ballooned to $4 million by the end. He was a gambler, Douglas said, and it paid off. And whatever sour grapes might have existed between Douglas and his father, who played R.P. McMurphy on Broadway and dreamt of doing so on film, were perhaps over-exaggerated. It was ultimately important for their relationship. 'McMurphy is as good a part as any actor is going to get, and I'm now far enough in my career to understand maybe you have four, maybe five good parts, really great parts. I'm sure for dad that was one of them,' Douglas said. 'To not be able to see it through was probably disappointing on one side. On the other, the fact that his son did it and the picture turned out so good? Thank God the picture turned out. It would have been a disaster if it hadn't." Douglas added: 'It was a fairy tale from beginning to end. I doubt anything else really came close to it. Even my Oscar for best actor years later didn't really surpass that moment very early in my career.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Mainichi
a day ago
- The Mainichi
Amid wave of child abuse, former victim to open shelter
CHIBA (Kyodo) -- Japan has seen a disturbing rise in nationwide child abuse cases over the past three decades and the problem is getting worse each year. Now, one woman who was abused as a child is working to open a shelter for girls and young women. Kogetsu Otagaki, 24, was taken into custody at a children's shelter at age 18, but says staff were not serious about caring for their wards. She knows from experience that kids seeking safety from violence need not only protection but comprehensive support for all aspects of life. "Half-hearted intervention doesn't heal wounds but instead inflicts new pain. Real support is crucial," Otagaki, director of nonprofit Child Oasis Kogetsu Villa, told Kyodo News in a recent interview. There were 2,649 cases of child abuse in Japan in 2024, a record high, the National Police Agency announced in June. The figure includes 52 children who died, up 24 from 2023. Government data shows that child welfare centers responded to a record-high 225,500 reports of child abuse in fiscal 2023, with psychological abuse making up more than half. Physical abuse made up 22.9 percent, or 51,623 cases, followed by 36,465 cases of neglect and 2,473 sexual abuse cases. Under Japanese law, psychological abuse includes witnessing domestic violence, which some experts say is one factor in the long-term increase in child abuse cases. The total rose 5.0 percent, or 10,666 cases, from fiscal 2022, marking the 33rd consecutive year of increase since records began, according to the revised figures compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Children and Families Agency. The percentage of physical abuse among all cases tends to increase with age. The increase in the number of reported cases is believed to be attributed to the fact that some parents feel trapped raising their kids without being able to consult with anyone, as well as to the establishment of a nationwide hotline which can be used to immediately report abuse once it is suspected. Otagaki, who currently lives in Chiba, near Tokyo, says her father was verbally abusive when he would get drunk. When she was in elementary school, he became violent, shoving her into a trash bin and saying he was throwing her away. In high school, her father would keep her up at night, berating her. "'You have nowhere to run,' he told me," she said. Otagaki would cry so hard she would often hyperventilate and breathe into a bag to calm herself. Stressed, Otagaki gained weight. She cut off her hair, which she had carefully grown out over the years. She was a far cry from how she had imagined herself as a high school girl. The daily scoldings began to take their toll on her sleep, and she started to have trouble staying awake in class. At the age of 15, she was temporarily taken into protective custody at a child welfare facility at the urging of a teacher. When she returned home a few months later, her father blamed her mother, saying, the reason Otagaki was "abducted by the child welfare center" was because her mother had raised her wrong. The family environment deteriorated. The abuse intensified. She had believed her mother was basically kind, even though she would sometimes encourage her father's outbursts. But when she was 16, her mother threatened her with a knife and Otagaki realized she was also an abuser. At the age of 18, Otagaki feared for her life and called a local government hotline. She found a private children's shelter where she was taken into protective custody. The family-like, peaceful environment allowed her to gradually recover. But she questioned the shelter's strict rules. Internet and telephone access were prohibited in order to shield the location of youths from their parents. Residents could not readily go to school or find work to their satisfaction. Otagaki felt that while the center was protecting the children, it was not preparing them for their future lives. As her physical strength declined due to lack of exercise, the only jobs arranged for her were a live-in caretaker and farmhand. Otagaki was unable to handle the grueling work and was bullied. She quit both jobs after three months. She had lost her home, employment and had grown distrustful of the shelter. In August 2024, Otagaki established her nonprofit in Chiba because she wants to provide services offering a "child's perspective." She aims to open the facility next spring for girls and women ages 15 to 20 to live, commute to school and find employment. Some of the renovation and operating costs of the facility are expected to come from the government and Chiba City. A municipal official pointed out that it's rare for a person who has been an abuse victim to create such a facility. Otagaki says she understands that her father was "immature" and taking out his frustrations on a daughter who was unable to fight back. They now live apart. "I hope he will someday reflect on the scars he left on my life," she said. Otagaki abandoned her original given name, which her parents had constantly yelled at her in anger, changing it last year to Kogetsu, using kanji characters for "bright moon." "When I called the hotline office from the park for help, I looked up crying and saw the moon shining in the night sky. I want to be like the full moon that shines on children," she said. (By Ibuki Ikegami)
Kyodo News
04-07-2025
- Kyodo News
FEATURE: Amid wave of child abuse, former victim to open shelter
CHIBA, Japan - Japan has seen a disturbing rise in nationwide child abuse cases over the past three decades and the problem is getting worse each year. Now, one woman who was abused as a child is working to open a shelter for girls and young women. Kogetsu Otagaki, 24, was taken into custody at a children's shelter at age 18, but says staff were not serious about caring for their wards. She knows from experience that kids seeking safety from violence need not only protection but comprehensive support for all aspects of life. "Half-hearted intervention doesn't heal wounds but instead inflicts new pain. Real support is crucial," Otagaki, director of nonprofit Child Oasis Kogetsu Villa, told Kyodo News in a recent interview. There were 2,649 cases of child abuse in Japan in 2024, a record high, the National Police Agency announced in June. The figure includes 52 children who died, up 24 from 2023. Government data shows that child welfare centers responded to a record-high 225,500 reports of child abuse in fiscal 2023, with psychological abuse making up more than half. Physical abuse made up 22.9 percent, or 51,623 cases, followed by 36,465 cases of neglect and 2,473 sexual abuse cases. Under Japanese law, psychological abuse includes witnessing domestic violence, which some experts say is one factor in the long-term increase in child abuse cases. The total rose 5.0 percent, or 10,666 cases, from fiscal 2022, marking the 33rd consecutive year of increase since records began, according to the revised figures compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Children and Families Agency. The percentage of physical abuse among all cases tends to increase with age. The increase in the number of reported cases is believed to be attributed to the fact that some parents feel trapped raising their kids without being able to consult with anyone, as well as to the establishment of a nationwide hotline which can be used to immediately report abuse once it is suspected. Otagaki, who currently lives in Chiba, near Tokyo, says her father was verbally abusive when he would get drunk. When she was in elementary school, he became violent, shoving her into a trash bin and saying he was throwing her away. In high school, her father would keep her up at night, berating her. "'You have nowhere to run,' he told me," she said. Otagaki would cry so hard she would often hyperventilate and breathe into a bag to calm herself. Stressed, Otagaki gained weight. She cut off her hair, which she had carefully grown out over the years. She was a far cry from how she had imagined herself as a high school girl. The daily scoldings began to take their toll on her sleep, and she started to have trouble staying awake in class. At the age of 15, she was temporarily taken into protective custody at a child welfare facility at the urging of a teacher. When she returned home a few months later, her father blamed her mother, saying, the reason Otagaki was "abducted by the child welfare center" was because her mother had raised her wrong. The family environment deteriorated. The abuse intensified. She had believed her mother was basically kind, even though she would sometimes encourage her father's outbursts. But when she was 16, her mother threatened her with a knife and Otagaki realized she was also an abuser. At the age of 18, Otagaki feared for her life and called a local government hotline. She found a private children's shelter where she was taken into protective custody. The family-like, peaceful environment allowed her to gradually recover. But she questioned the shelter's strict rules. Internet and telephone access were prohibited in order to shield the location of youths from their parents. Residents could not readily go to school or find work to their satisfaction. Otagaki felt that while the center was protecting the children, it was not preparing them for their future lives. As her physical strength declined due to lack of exercise, the only jobs arranged for her were a live-in caretaker and farmhand. Otagaki was unable to handle the grueling work and was bullied. She quit both jobs after three months. She had lost her home, employment and had grown distrustful of the shelter. In August 2024, Otagaki established her nonprofit in Chiba because she wants to provide services offering a "child's perspective." She aims to open the facility next spring for girls and women ages 15 to 20 to live, commute to school and find employment. Some of the renovation and operating costs of the facility are expected to come from the government and Chiba City. A municipal official pointed out that it's rare for a person who has been an abuse victim to create such a facility. Otagaki says she understands that her father was "immature" and taking out his frustrations on a daughter who was unable to fight back. They now live apart. "I hope he will someday reflect on the scars he left on my life," she said. Otagaki abandoned her original given name, which her parents had constantly yelled at her in anger, changing it last year to Kogetsu, using kanji characters for "bright moon." "When I called the hotline office from the park for help, I looked up crying and saw the moon shining in the night sky. I want to be like the full moon that shines on children," she said.
