God of Location Sergeant Toshi

ロケの神様曹長歳
God of Location Sergeant Toshi

東宝映画ロケを語る
Talking about Toho movie locations

本名は長尾三郎介というんですが、長年東宝で運転手をやっていまして、みんな曹長と呼ぶんですよ。弟も同じく運転手だったんですが、私は本編担当、弟は特撮の担当も多かった。当時東宝に運転手は8人くらいいたかな。弟は『ゴジラ』についてたし、特撮のこともよくわかると思うけど、いまは体調が悪くてね。どんな監督さんでも、ホンができればまずロケハン。監督と、助監督とカメラマンと、美術と私だよね。まず私はホンをもらって、どういう内容か把握する。それでもって、どういうところで撮りたいのかというを考える。内容によって、これは長野行こう、群馬行こうとか。大正時代の建物がよければ桐生にたくさん残っているからいいだろうとか。頭の中に全部入ってるからね。でも「ここは黒澤監督が撮ったところですよ」なんていっちゃうと、みんな人が撮ったところは嫌だからね。監督に気を使うことも重要なんだよ。『ゴジラ』のロケハンでも運転しましたよ。国会議事堂をどうやってこわそうかなんて言ってたね。本多監督も、階級は私と同じ曹長でしょう。監督としては優秀だったと思いますね。普通の監督さんとはまたちがった、どんなものでも綴ろうっていう人でした。さっぱりした人で、親しみやすかったですね。

My real name is Saburosuke Nagao, but I worked as a driver for Toho for many years, and everyone calls me Sergeant Major. My younger brother was also a driver, but I was in charge of the main story, and he was also in charge of special effects. I think there were about eight drivers at Toho at that time. My younger brother worked on Godzilla, so I think he knows a lot about special effects, but he’s not feeling well right now. No matter what kind of director you are, if you have the skills, the first thing you need to do is location scouting. It’s the director, the assistant director, the cameraman, the art director, and me. First, I get a phone call and figure out what the content is. Even so, I think about where I want to take photos. Depending on the content, let’s go to Nagano, let’s go to Gunma, etc. If you like buildings from the Taisho era, there are a lot of them left in Kiryu, so it would be a good idea. It’s all in my head. But if you say, “This is where director Kurosawa filmed,” people don’t want to see a place where someone else took a picture. It’s also important to pay attention to the director. I also drove it during the location scouting for “Godzilla.” He said things like how he was going to destroy the Capitol building. Director Honda is also probably a sergeant, the same rank as me. I think he was an excellent director. He was a person who was different from a normal director and was willing to write about anything. He was a refreshing person and was easy to get along with.

Caption

1919年生まれ。ロケハンの神様と言われた東宝の名物運転手。あだ名の「曹長さん」は、戦争中の階級が曹長だったことと、誰よりも朝早い早朝をかけたもの。ワゴンの後ろあけてカメラ積み撮影に参加したり、運転手役での出演も多数。

Born in 1919. A famous Toho driver who was said to be the god of location hunting. His nickname, “Sergeant Major,” is a combination of his rank during the war, which was sergeant major, and his early morning hours. He opens the back of the wagon and takes part in photo shoots, and has appeared in many roles as a driver.

Source: 初代ゴジラ p, 48