Koichi Kawakita

Koichi Kawakita Born December 5, 1942 Tokyo, Japan Died December 5, 2014 (aged 72) Occupation Director, director of special effects, special effects cinematographer, optical photographer, writer, actor Notable role(s) Bar patron, man listening to prime minister, store patron, JSDF officer, secretary of defense, office worker 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 director, cinematographer, and optical photographer 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

Assistant special effects cinematographer

• Gorath (1962) [with Yoichi Manoda, Tokimaro Karasawa, Takeshi Yamamoto, Takao Tsurumi, Takeshi Miyanishi]
• King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) [with Yoichi Manoda, Tokimaro Karasawa, Takeshi Yamamoto, Takao Tsurumi, Kenya Mukai, Takeshi Miyanishi]
• Matango (1963) [with Yoichi Manoda, Tokimaro Karasawa, Takao Tsurumi]
• Atragon (1963) [with Yoichi Manoda, Tokimaro Karasawa, Takeshi Yamamoto, Takao Tsurumi, Kenya Mukai, Takeshi Miyanishi]
• Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) [with Yoichi Manoda, Tokimaro Karasawa, Takeshi Yamamoto, Takao Tsurumi, Kenya Mukai, Takeshi Miyanishi]
• Dogora (1964) [with Yoichi Manoda, Tokimaro Karasawa, Takeshi Yamamoto, Takao Tsurumi, Takeshi Miyanishi]
• Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) [with Yoichi Manoda, Tokimaro Karasawa, Takeshi Yamamoto, Takao Tsurumi, Takeshi Miyanishi]

Optical photographer

• Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965) [with Yukio Manoda, Yoshiyuki Tokumasa]
• Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) [with Yukio Manoda, Yoshiyuki Tokumasa, Sadao Iizuka]
• The War of the Gargantuas (1966) [with Yoshiyuki Tokumasa, Keiichi Ukai, Yutaka Onodera, Yoshikazu Manoda]
• Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) [with Yoshiyuki Tokumasa, Hiroshi Onoda]
• King Kong Escapes (1967) [with Yoshiyuki Tokumasa]
• Son of Godzilla (1967) [with Yoshiyuki Tokumasa, Hiroshi Onoda]
• Destroy All Monsters (1968) [with Yoshiyuki Tokumasa, Yutaka Onodera]
• Latitude Zero (1969) [with Yoshiyuki Tokumasa, Keeichi Ukai, Takeshi Miyanishi]
• All Monsters Attack (1969) [with Yoshiyuki Tokumasa]
• Space Amoeba (1970) [with Yoshiyuki Tokumasa, Takeshi Miyanishi, Yutaka Onodera]
• Horror Theater Unbalance (TV 1973)

2nd assistant director

• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) [with Yoshio Tabuchi]
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) [with Shunichi Kobayashi, Eiichi Asada]

2nd assistant director of special effects

• Submersion of Japan (1973) [with Eiichi Asada, Makoto Yasuda, Hideyuki Inoue, Kazuo Yoshida, Fumisuke Okada]

1st assistant director of special effects

• Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974)
• The Explosion (1975)
• The Mighty Peking Man (1977)
• The War in Space (1977)

Director of special effects

• Ultraman Ace (TV 1972-1973) [episodes 21-22, 25-27, 30-31, 36-37, 40-41]
• Zone Fighter (TV 1973) [episodes 3-4, 8, 10, 14-16, 25]
• Ultraman Taro (TV 1973-1974) [episodes 6-7]
• Submersion of Japan: Television Series (TV 1974-1975) [episodes 4-5, 10, 14-15, 19-20]
• Megaloman (TV 1979) [episode 7]
• Ultraman 80 (TV 1980-1981) [episodes 10, 13-14]
• Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984)
• Gunhed (1989)
• Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
• Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
• Monster Planet of Godzilla (1994)
• Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994)
• Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
• Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
• Rebirth of Mothra II (1997)
• The Gransazers (TV 2003-2004) [episodes 1-51]
• The Justirisers (TV 2004-2005) [episodes 1-51]
• Super Fleet Sazer-X (TV 2005-2006) [episodes 1-38]
• Super Fleet Sazer-X the Movie (2005)

Director

• Toho Unused Special Effects Complete Collection (1986)
• Monster Planet of Godzilla (1994)
• CR Godzilla 3S-T Battle (video game 2006) [cutscenes]
• Kawaii! JeNny (TV 2007) [episodes 1-26]
• The God of Clay (2011) [with Nobuaki Sugimoto]
• Gunbot (TV 2014) [episodes 1-4]

Screenwriter

• Gunbot (TV 2014) [episodes 1-4]

Actor

• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) as Bar patron [uncredited]
• Submersion of Japan: Television Series (TV 1974-1975) as Man listening to prime minister's speech [episode 23; uncredited]
• Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) as Underground shopping center patron [uncredited]
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) as Rodan [hand puppet; uncredited]
• Miraculous Survivals! Narrow Escapes from Death Special (TV 1996-2003) as himself ["Celebrity Special Edition: Godzilla"]
• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) as JSDF officer
• The Gransazers (TV 2003-2004) as Secretary of defense [episode 49; uncredited]
• The Justirisers (TV 2004-2005) as Office worker [episode 1; uncredited]

Gallery

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

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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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Videos

Kawakita plays his younger self in the Godzilla-themed episode of Stories of Narrow Escapes from Death

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 were screened at the festival.

External links

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

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