Shigeru Kayama

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Shigeru Kayama
Shigeru Kayama
Born July 1, 1904
Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Died February 7, 1975 (aged 70)
Occupation Novelist, screenwriter
First work Orang Pendek's Revenge (1947)
Notable work Monster Godzilla (1954)
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Shigeru Kayama (香山 滋,   Kayama Shigeru), born Koji Yamada (山田 鉀治,   Yamada Kōji), was a Japanese novelist and screenwriter known for his works of fantasy and suspense. He is perhaps best recognized as the author of the original story treatment for Godzilla—titled Project G Review Script and later published as a novelization under the name Monster Godzilla—as well as its sequel, Godzilla Raids Again.

Kayama began writing in 1940 while working for the Ministry of Finance, specializing in the tanka genre of short poems. In 1946, he was awarded first prize in a competition held by The Jewel magazine for his short story, Orang Pendek's Revenge.[1] Continuing to write for the magazine, he was presented a Newcomer of the Year award by the Detective Story Writers Club of Japan for his second work, Curious Stories from the House of Eel,[1] and decided to begin pursuing the medium full-time in 1949. Due to his incorporation of mutated marine life and unknown creatures in his writings,[1] Kayama was recruited in 1954 by Toho producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to refine his ideas for a film involving a giant monster into a tangible story treatment.[2] Ishiro Honda, believing the monster should serve as an allegory for nuclear testing, adapted Kayama's story about a sea creature sinking fishing vessels into the screenplay for what would ultimately become Godzilla.[2] The writer would be brought on again for the company's next kaiju endeavor, Half Human, featuring a Yeti monster not unlike the Orang Pendek of his early writings. Due to the success of Godzilla, however, Half Human was delayed in favor of a Godzilla sequel, for which Kayama would also be credited as storywriter. His final work for Toho came in 1957, helping Takeshi Kimura to adapt Jojiro Okami's story for The Mysterians for the screen. Kayama continued writing sporadically until his death in 1975, at the age of 70.

Selected filmography

Selected bibliography

Gallery

See also

References

This is a list of references for Shigeru Kayama. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ryfle, Steve (April 1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G". ECW Press. p. 22. ISBN 1-55022-348-8.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Ragone, August (6 May 2014). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters (paperback ed.). Chronicle Books. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-4521-3539-7.

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