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He had an unusual background for an actor: his formal education began in a kindergarten founded by the wartime-era Japanese Imperial Army, and continued in a military academy which was Tokyo's answer to West Point. Upon graduating from Tokyo University (Japan's most prestigious), Hirata confounded many family expectations of him by pursuing a career in acting. His first roles in Tetsuwan namida ari (1953) and The Last Embrace (1953) brought him to the attention of director Ishirô Honda, who promptly cast Hirata first in his WW2 romance Farewell Rabaul Saraba Rabauru (1954) and then, later that year, in the role that would come to define Hirata's career: the tormented, one-eyed scientist Daisuke Serizawa, who alone has figured out a way to destroy the monster Gojira Godzilla (1954). That movie made stars out of all of the younger actors who were fortunate enough to star in it, though Hirata tended more towards second leads and character parts. He was often called the best-known of all actors to appear in Gojira movies (he would turn up in six of the sequels), but this was due as much to his popularity with directors as with his exposure through the monster movies. He was a favorite of directors Ishiro Honda, Jun Fukuda, Hiroshi Inagaki, and much beloved by virtually all the actors who knew him: honest and humorous, highly intellectual but never pretentious. He appeared in literally every kind of movie Toho Studios made, from the monster pictures to samurai dramas (including his one movie for Akira Kurosawa, Sanjuro (1962)) to war dramas to comedies. Still, he remained identified most directly in the public's mind with the original Gojira; his character Serizawa is among the best remembered and most admired in all Japanese films, both inside Japan and out. Hirata was chosen by Toho to announce the monster's return in Godzilla 1985 (1985), and was tapped for a major role; but he died tragically of lung cancer before he could begin shooting.

Nam June Paik was the first video artist who experimented with electronic media and made a profound impact on the art of video and television. He coined the phrase "Information Superhighway" in 1974, and has been called the "father of video art."

He was born Nam June Paik on July 20, 1932 in Seoul, South Korea. He was the fifth son of a textile manufacturer. Young Paik was fond of music and art, he studied piano in Seoul. In 1950 the Paik family fled from the Korean War, first to Hong Kong, and later to Japan. There he graduated from the University of Tokyo (1956), where he studied art, music history, and philosophy, and wrote a thesis on Arnold Schönberg.

Paik continued his music studies in Germany. He collaborated with Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage, who inspired his transition into electronic arts. In 1959 he performed his "Hommage a John Cage" with pre-recorded music and motorcycle, with participation of people and live chicken. Paik also carried out experimental work with Karlheinz Stockhausen in the Electronic Music Studio of the West Deutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne, Germany. Paik was a friend of Yoko Ono from 1963, when they first met at her home in Tokyo. At that time, he took part in the Post Neo-Dada art movement "Fluxus" with George Maciunas, Yoko Ono and other avant-garde artists.

Paik's modified TV monitors were first presented in 1963, in his solo show titled "Exposition of Music-Electronic Television" in Germany. In 1964 he moved to New York and continued experiments with music and video performance. His ground-braking interactive video-works began in 1965, when he started experiments with his video camera, with electromagnets, and with color TV. At that time Paik also collaborated with engineer Shuya Abe in Japan. He continued as artist-in-residence at WGBH public broadcaster in Boston, USA. There he constructed the first video synthesizer together with Shuya Abe in 1969. A large magnet outside the TV monitor was used to alter the image and create an abstract picture. He produced random patterns of light by causing distortions to the electron emission spot on a phosphorous screen. Paik later used multiple TV monitors and robots, made of TV sets, metal and electronic components. In his TV project " TV Buddha" a statue of a sitting Buddha is facing it's own image on a closed-circuit TV.

Paik was the founding father of Video Art. He advanced our perceptions of the temporal image and it's role in contemporary art. His largest project was "Wrap around the World" designed for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. There he mounted a giant media-tower shaped like a birthday cake, called "The More the Better" and used 1003 TV monitors for a non-stop presentation of Video-Art images and performances by Korean drummers and international artists: Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Merce Cunningham, Sergei Kuryokhin among others.

Nam June Paik is credited for creating the term "Electronic Super Highway" in his 1974 report, commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation. In the 90s, when "information superhighway" became a hot phrase, he commented, "Bill Clinton stole my idea." In 1996 Paik became disabled after having a stroke, and was in a wheelchair for ten years in his later life, but his energy and intellect were as productive as ever. He was a highly creative member of society, a provocative experimental artist and thinker whose ideas and performances made a profound effect on the art of video and television. His works are now preserved in museum collections across the world. Nam June Paik died on January 29, 2006 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.

"He made the World Family wiser", said his friend Yoko Ono. A space rock was named "Paik" in his honor.

Eun-jin Han was born on 6 September 1918 in Keijo, Korea, Empire of Japan [now Seoul, South Korea]. She was an actress, known for Nammae (1967), Mu-jeong (1939) and Naega banyeokjanya (1968). She died on 16 July 2003 in Ichon-dong, Seoul, South Korea.