This is a list of James Bond's allies in the film You Only Live Twice.
Contents |
| Dikko Henderson | |
|---|---|
| Character from the James Bond franchise | |
| Affiliation | Tiger Tanaka |
| Portrayed by | Charles Gray |
Richard Lovelace "Dikko" Henderson is a character in the James Bond novel You Only Live Twice.
Dikko is an Australian intelligence officer assigned to that country's embassy in Tokyo. Since the Australians and the British have strong ties in intelligence matters, Dikko is assigned to introduce Bond to Tiger Tanaka, the head of the Japanese Secret Service. A brawler and heavy drinker, Dikko easily befriends Bond and gives him his first introduction to Japanese culture via a bar and a brothel. He actively fosters relations between the British agent and Tanaka; however, he drops out of the picture once Bond undertakes the assassination of the foreign botanist Doctor Shatterhand.
Dikko's physical description and personality are based on the British-Australian journalist Richard Hughes, who was the Asian correspondent for The Times and a long-time resident in East Asia. Author Ian Fleming had befriended Hughes while touring Asia as part of his research for his series of travel essays published as Thrilling Cities.
In the movie version of You Only Live Twice, Dikko Henderson is portrayed by Charles Gray (who would later return as the villain in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever). He is Bond's contact in Tokyo, a former soldier who has an artificial leg. He lost his leg during the Second World War in 1942. Henderson has partially (but not completely) assimilated into the culture of his host country, "I refuse to go entirely Japanese.", wearing a kimono but insisting on sleeping in a four-poster bed. It is implied that he actively spies and compromises foreign agents, remarking that he gets his Russian vodka from the doorman at the embassy "amongst certain other things". In his apartment, Henderson confirms to Bond that the Japanese government is not involved in the disappearance of an American spacecraft, but is assassinated in mid-sentence by a dagger stabbed through the paper wall.
| Sadanoyama | |
|---|---|
| Character from the James Bond franchise | |
| Affiliation | Japan Sumo Association Japanese Secret Service |
| Portrayed by | Sadanoyama himself |
Sadanoyama is one of the highest-ranking sumo wrestlers, who doubles as a liaison between Bond and Aki. He is portrayed by the 50th Yokozuna (“grand champion”) Sadanoyama himself.
Kotozakura, a Sekiwake (third highest rank) who went on to become 53rd Yokozuna later, also made a cameo appearance as himself in the match against Sadanoyama.
| Ling | |
|---|---|
| Character from the James Bond franchise | |
| Affiliation | MI6 |
| Portrayed by | Tsai Chin |
Ling was a character in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice played by Tsai Chin. She is seen only in the pre-credit sequence.
After being in bed with Bond, Ling presses a button on the wall flipping the bed into an upright position with Bond still on it. She then lets in a couple of gunmen who 'assassinate' Bond. The killing, however, is staged in order to give Bond more freedom to complete the mission at the heart of the story.
Actress Tsai Chin, who played Ling, later appeared as Madame Wu in the 2006 version of Casino Royale.
| Tiger Tanaka | |
|---|---|
| Character from the James Bond franchise | |
| Affiliation | Japanese Secret Service |
| Portrayed by | Tetsuro Tamba |
Tiger Tanaka Tanaka Tora (田中 虎 Tanaka Tora) is a fictional character in the James Bond novel and film series.
Introduced in the novel You Only Live Twice, Tanaka is a former kamikaze pilot who became the head of the Japanese Secret Service during the American occupation of Japan. In the novel, he is described as graduating from the University of Oxford in PPE. Introduced to Bond by Dikko Henderson, the two negotiate for British access to the Japanese intelligence feed on the Soviet Union. In exchange for the data, Tanaka compels Bond to undertake the assassination of a mysterious foreigner. Tanaka personally takes charge of Bond's training for the mission, instructing him in Japanese customs and enrolling him in a ninja training school.
Tanaka is a womanizer who has been married three times. He is stoically bitter about the influence of American culture in his country, decrying it as the price of defeat.
Tanaka's physical description and personality are based on the Japanese writer Torao "Tiger" Saito, whom Fleming met in Tokyo while researching the Far East for a series of travel articles, later published as Thrilling Cities. Many of the descriptions of Japanese customs in YOLT come from Fleming's conversations with Saito.
In the film version, Tanaka aids Bond in finding and defeating Ernst Stavro Blofeld, using a team of ninja agents to invade the villain's lair in an inactive volcano. He is portrayed by Tetsuro Tamba.
Tanaka is featured in Raymond Benson's latest book The Man with the Red Tattoo, in which he has retired from the Japanese Secret Service but still retains authority as a director emeritus. He has also developed heart disease, and suffers a heart attack shortly before the climax of the novel, but survives.