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Jul 7, 2015 · Celebrate the pioneer of Tokusatsu, the live action genre of Japanese monster movies, with an interactive Doodle. Learn about his legacy, visit his studio, and create your own monster movie.
Eiji Tsuburaya (Japanese: 円谷 英二, Hepburn: Tsuburaya Eiji, July 7, 1901 – January 25, 1970) was a Japanese special effects director, filmmaker, and cinematographer. A co-creator of the Godzilla and Ultraman franchises, he is considered one of the most important and influential figures in the history of cinema.
Eiji Tsuburaya. Special Effects: Godzilla. Eiji Tsuburaya ranks alongside Willis H. O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen as one of the great visionary SFX masters of twentieth century fantasy cinema.
- Special Effects, Writer, Cinematographer
- July 7, 1901
- Eiji Tsuburaya
- January 25, 1970
- History
- Legacy
- Family
- External Links
Early Life
Tsuburaya described his childhood as filled with "mixed emotions." Eiji was born in Sukugawa, Fukushima on July 7th, which coincidentally fell on the same day of the Japanese holiday, Tanabata. He was the first son of Isamu Shiraishi and Sei Tsuburaya, with a large extended family. His mother died when he was only three and his father moved to China for the family business. Eiji was raised by his barely older uncle, Ichiro, and his paternal grandmother, Natsu. He attended elementary school at...
Early Career and war propaganda
In 1919, his first job in the film industry was as an assistant cinematographer at the Nippon Katsudou Shashin Kabushiki-kaisha (Nippon Cinematograph Company or Kokkatsu for short) in Kyoto, which later became better known as Nikkatsu. After serving as a member of the correspondence staff to the military from 1921 to 1923, he joined Ogasaware Productions. He was head cameraman on Hunchback of Enmeiin (Enmeiin no Semushiotoko), and served as assistant cameraman on Teinosuke Kinugasa's ground-b...
Toho years
As head of Toho's Visual Effects Department (which was known as the "Special Arts Department" until 1961), that he established in 1939, he supervised around an average of sixty craftsmen, technicians and cameramen. It was here that he became part of the team, along with director Ishirō Honda and producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, that created the first Godzilla film in 1954, and were dubbed by Toho's advertising department as "The Golden Trio". For his work in Godzilla, Tsuburaya won his first "Film T...
On January 30, 1970, five days after his death, he was awarded the "Order of the Sacred Treasure" reward from Japanese government. Due to his death, in March 1 of said year, Toho studio abolished the Special Technology division. The Tsuburaya Production would later be left in charge to his eldest son, Hajime Tsuburaya.
Wife: Masano ArakiEldest child/First son: Hajime Tsuburaya (Tsuburaya Prod.'s second president)Middle child/Second son: Noboru Tsuburaya (Tsuburaya Prod.'s third president)Youngest child/Third son: Tsubara Tsuburaya (Vice President)Eiji Tsuburaya was born on July 7, 1901 in Sukagawa, Fukushima*. He graduated from Jinjo Elementary School in 1916. In pursuit of a boyhood dream he enrolled at Nippon Flying School, but the school closed due to a fatal accident involving the founder.
Jun 16, 2024 · Eiji Tsuburaya (円谷 英二, Tsuburaya Eiji), born Eiichi Tsumuraya (圓谷 英一, Tsumuraya Eiichi), was a Japanese special effects director and cameraman. Tsuburaya rose to fame primarily due to his work on Toho's war, kaiju, and science fiction films between the 1940s and 60s, when he pioneered various tokusatsu (special ...
Eiji Tsuburaya (1901–1970) was a Japanese special effects director and filmmaker who worked on roughly 250 films throughout his five-decade career. Having pioneered and popularized the special effects sector of the Japanese film industry, he is popularly known as the "Father of Tokusatsu ".
