Where Are They Now?: Kamen Rider Kabuto

Welcome to Where Are They Now? This installment of the series dedicated to tracking the careers of tokusatsu actors after their show has ended will be focusing on the Kamen Riders from Kamen Rider Kabuto.

The man who walked the path of heaven, Tendou Souji/ Kamen Rider Kabuto, was played by Hiro Mizushima. To describe Mizushima’s career post-Kabuto in a single word, that word would be prolific. He has gone on to star in several different television and movie projects.

Mizushima played Maruo Kudo in Tokyo Dogs, a former street gang leader turned special detective. He has to team up with a detective from New York City named Kanade Takakura, portrayed by Shun Oguri. These polar opposites have to solve a case together involving a mysterious girl.

Mizushima recently had a breakthrough internationally when he played Yoshi Kadokura in Girls, the HBO drama penned by Lena Dunham.

In terms of the silver screen, Mizushima plays Sebastian the titular Butler for the live action Black Butler film.

Yuki Sato (also known by the stage name Jin Sato) played Arata Kagami/ Kamen Rider Gatack. His career has not been as vast as Mizushima’s but he has a healthy number of projects under his belt, mostly being one-off appearances in J-Dramas.

Sato played Kurashima in the TV Drama adaptation of Shitsuren Chocolatier.  The series follows the life of Sota Koyurugi, from when he first made chocolate to impress a girl to his rise as a “Chocolate Prince”.

Sato played Malik in Salvage Mice. The film follows Mai/Salvage Mice, a legendary thief who is betrayed by her longtime partner Malik. Now on the run, Mai has to come to terms with this betrayal, and with her path forward.

The first TheBee/KickHopper/Sou Yaguruma was portrayed by Hidenori Tokuyama. Quite like Sato, Tokuyama’s career has mostly stayed on the small screen. He has, however, had other notable roles in the realm of tokusatsu. He played Hiroto Sutou/ Go-On Gold in Engine Sentai Go-Onger, as well as voicing the Molech Imagin in Kamen Rider Den-O. He also went on to reprise his role as KickHopper in Kamen Rider Decade.

Outside of tokusatsu, Tokuyama has had several smaller roles in television. He played Masayuki Ebata in Blood on the Tracks, a detective story following an investigation team looking into the case of a murdered girl. At the same time, Internal Affairs is preparing a cover-up, just in case the police were involved in the murder in some way.

Tokuyama plays Toshiya Konishi in High School Entrance Exam. This series focuses on an investigation as to who destroyed an exam days before it was set to be given. A notable thing about this series is that it also stars a Pre-Kamen Rider Gaim Mahiro Takasugi

The 2nd TheBee/PunchHopper/Shun Kageyama was played by Masato Uchiyama. He has not had much of a career post-Kabuto. Outside of voicing the Salamander Imagin in Kamen Rider Den-O: I’m Born!, and reprising his role as PunchHopper in Kamen Rider Decade, he, unfortunately, hasn’t had that many roles.

One of his latest roles was as Nishida in Tokyo PR Woman. The movie follows the life of a woman, Rena Misaki, as he leaves her job at a bank to work at  PR firm. The film also stars Kamen Rider Decade’s Masahiro Inoue, Kamen Rider W‘s Ren Kiriyama, and fellow Kabuto alum Yusuke Yamamoto

Kamen Rider Sasword/ Tsurugi Kamishiro was played by Yusuke Yamamoto. He has had a rather steady career post-Kabuto, having starred in some big name projects.

Yamamoto played Tamaki Sudo in the live-action adaptation of Ouran High School Host Club. The drama, based off of the manga of the same name, Haruhi Fujioka a student at the acclaimed Ouran Academy. One day, she accidentally destroys an expensive vase. In order to repay for it, the school’s Host Club gets her to join, not knowing that she’s a girl.

Yamamoto plays Toshiyuki Saejima in the live action Great Teacher Onizuka franchise (2012-2014). GTO centers on Eikichi Onizuka, a former gang member who becomes a teacher because of the influence it could gain him. However, during the process of earning his degree, he discovers he genuinely enjoys teaching and sets out to become the greatest teacher ever.  This franchise also stars Gaku Sano (Kamen Rider Gaim) and Yuki Yamada (Kaizou Sentai Gokaiger)

Recently his career ran into a major hurdle. Yamamoto was terminated from his agency, Ever Green Entertainment due to breach of contract. While his actions were unspecified, the company determined that he did not “meet their standards.”

Kamen Rider Drake/ Daisuke Kazama was portrayed by Kazuki Kato. He has had a consistent amount of work since Kabuto concluded. He does have another notable role outside of Kabuto in the world of tokusatsu. He played Kamen Rider V3/ Shiro Kazami in Kamen Rider THE NEXT. 

While he has had some other minor roles in television and film, his most notable role outside of tokusatsu would be Keigo Atobe in The Prince of Tennis musicals. He also played Tybalt in a production of Romeo and Juliet.

In 2011, Kato established a band named Joker, their debut album in December of that year. They have not been very active in recent years.