Revered stage and film actor, who admittedly gave very drab, uninteresting performances, at least in the few sci-fi films he appeared in. Senda adopted his stage name “Koreya Senda” as a parody and tribute to the victims of the Korean Massacre following the Great Kanto Earthquake (“The Koreans in Sendagaya”).

Senda traveled to Germany in 1927 to study theater at the Reinhardt School of Drama. He joined the German Communist Party, and later formed a Japanese chapter of the party in Germany with Kunisaki Teihora and Takiji Kobayashi. In 1931 they returned to Japan and formed a left-wing theater company. The company was disbanded following their arrests in 1942, when Japan began cracking down on communists. Takiji Kobayashi, in particular, suffered a brutal death at the hands of the police that has been the subject of much controversy ever since.

In 1944, Senda formed the Haiyuza troupe with fellow actors Eijiro Tono, Eitaro Ozawa, and Sugisaku Aoyama. He continued to represent the theater for nearly 50 years until his death.

He appeared in 3 Toho sci-fi films in the 50s, playing scientists and mentors a la Takashi Shimura’s characters in similar films, albeit with less charm. His role in Battle in Outer Space (1959) is apparently the same character that Shimura played in The Mysterians (1957), Dr. Adachi.

Senda is the uncle of actor Jerry Ito (of Mothra fame) and the grandfather of actress Anna Nakagawa (of Godzilla VS King Ghidorah fame).