Koichi Kawakita

Koichi Kawakita Born December 5, 1942 Tokyo, Japan Died December 5, 2014 Occupation Optical Technician, Special Effects Director, Director, Actor Notable role(s) SDF Officer, Businessman First work Gorath (1962) Notable work Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)

Koichi Kawakita (川北紘一,   Kawakita Kōichi), born December 5, 1942, was a Japanese optical technician, special effects director, and director best known for his work on most of the Heisei era Godzilla films and the first two Rebirth of Mothra films. He also occasionally appeared in cameos in some of Toho's tokusastu productions. Kawakita passed away on December 5, 2014, his 72nd birthday.

Selected Filmography

Director

• Gorath (1962) - Assistant Optical Technician
• King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) - Assistant Special Effects Cameraman
• The Return of Ultraman (TV 1971-1972) - Assistant Director of Special Effects
• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) - Assistant Director of Special Effects
• Zone Fighter (TV 1973) - Director of Special Effects [episodes 3, 4, 8, 10, 14-16, and 25]
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) - Assistant Director of Special Effects
• Ultraman Leo (TV 1974-1975) - Special Effects Supervisor
• Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974) - Assistant Director of Special Effects
• The Mighty Peking Man (1977) - Assistant Director of Special Effects
• The War in Space (1977) - Assistant Director of Special Effects
• Megaloman (TV 1979) - Director of Special Effects
• Ultraman 80 (TV 1980-1981) - Special Effects Supervisor
• Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984) - Director of Special Effects
• Gunhed (1989) - Director of Special Effects
• Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) - Director of Special Effects
• Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) - Director of Special Effects
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) - Director of Special Effects
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) - Director of Special Effects
• Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994) - Director of Special Effects
• Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) - Director of Special Effects
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) - Director of Special Effects
• Rebirth of Mothra (1996) - Director of Special Effects
• Rebirth of Mothra II (1997) - Director of Special Effects
• The Gransazers (TV 2003-2004) - Director of Special Effects
• The Justirisers (TV 2004-2005) - Director of Special Effects
• Super Fleet Sazer-X (TV 2005-2006) - Director of Special Effects
• Super Fleet Sazer-X the Movie: Fight! Star Soldiers (2005) - Director of Special Effects
• CR Godzilla 3S-T Battle (Video Game 2006) - Director [cutscenes]
• Kawaii! JeNny (TV 2007) - Director
• The God of Clay (2011) - Director (with Nobuaki Sugimoto)

Actor

• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) as Rodan [hand puppet]
• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) as JSDF Officer
• The Justirisers (TV 2004-2005) as Businessman
• Super Fleet Sazer-X (TV 2005-2006) as Businessman

Gallery

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  Koichi Kawakita with the Fire Rodan, Mothra imago, BabyGodzilla, Super Mechagodzilla, Godzilla and King Ghidorah suits and props

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  Kawakita using the Rodan hand puppet

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  Kawakita, Roland Emmerich and Patrick Tatopoulos with the DesuGoji

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  Kawakita's cameo in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

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Trivia

• Just before his death in December 2014, Koichi Kawakita acted as a consultant for the PlayStation 3 Godzilla video game.
• On November 28, 2015, a special festival was held in Tokyo in honor of Koichi Kawakita. The films Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, for which Kawakita acted as the director of special effects, were screened at the festival.

External Links

• Interview by David Milner (December 1994)
• Interview by David Milner (December 1995)

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