Eiji Tsuburaya
The special effects pioneer who co-created Godzilla and Ultraman.
Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director, filmmaker and cinematographer, and co-creator of the Godzilla and Ultraman franchises. He pioneered Japan's special effects industry and is considered one of the most important figures in cinema history.
Quick Facts
- Birthplace
- Sukagawa, Fukushima, Japan
- Died
- 25 January 1970
- Place of death
- Itō, Shizuoka, Japan
- Education
- Tokyo Kanda Electrical Engineering School
- Years active
- 1919–1969
- Spouse
- Masano Araki (1930)
- Children
- 4,His second child, Miyako, died in her juvenescence. including Hajime, Noboru and Akira
- Resting place
- Catholic Fuchū Cemetery, Fuchū, Tokyo
Lore & Background
Over five decades he worked on about 250 films, including features directed by Ishiro Honda, Hiroshi Inagaki and Akira Kurosawa, and won six Japan Technical Awards.
After a brief time as an inventor, he joined Yoshiro Edamasa in 1919 as an assistant cinematographer. Seeing King Kong at 32 pushed him towards special effects, and in October 1934 he completed the first iron shooting crane.
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