Tomoyuki Tanaka

Tomoyuki Tanaka Born April 26, 1910 Kashiwara, Osaka, Japan Died April 2, 1997 (aged 86) Tokyo, Japan Occupation Producer First work Duel at Yagyu Valley (1945) Notable work Godzilla (1954)

“	Godzilla is the son of the atomic bomb. He is a nightmare created out of the darkness of the human soul. He is the sacred beast of the apocalypse.	„
	— Tomoyuki Tanaka speaking about Godzilla, his most famous creation

“	Japan is rich and people can buy whatever they want. But what is behind that wealth? Nothing very spiritual. Everyone's so concerned with the material, and then Godzilla rips it all apart. I suspect that is good for us to see.	„
	— Tomoyuki Tanaka in People Magazine, 1985

Tomoyuki Tanaka (田中 友幸 (ともゆき),   Tanaka Tomoyuki), nicknamed Yuko Tanaka (田中 友幸 (ゆうこう),   Tanaka Yūkō), was a Japanese film producer most famous for creating Godzilla. He was born in Osaka, Japan on April 26, 1910, and died in Tokyo on April 2, 1997, at the age of 86 from cerebral infarction.

Not long after graduating from Kansai University in 1940, Tanaka joined Toho. After four years with the company, he began producing his own films. In his 60-year career with Toho, Tanaka produced more than 200 films, including nearly all of the company's kaiju releases from 1954 to 1995. In the 1950s and 1960s, his kaiju and science-fiction films frequently brought together director Ishiro Honda, special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, and composer Akira Ifukube. He also produced eight of legendary director Akira Kurosawa's films. He has a dedication to his death in the credits for TriStar Pictures' GODZILLA.

Selected filmography

Executive producer

• Godzilla (1954)
• Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
• Half Human (1955)
• The Legend of the White Serpent (1956)
• Rodan (1956)
• The Mysterians (1957)
• The H-Man (1958)
• Varan (1958)
• Monkey Sun (1959)
• The Three Treasures (1959) [with Sanezumi Fujimoto]
• Battle in Outer Space (1959)
• The Secret of the Telegian (1960)
• The Human Vapor (1960)
• Mothra (1961)
• The Last War (1961) [with Sanezumi Fujimoto]
• Gorath (1962)
• King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
• Matango (1963)
• Samurai Pirate (1963) [with Kenichiro Tsunoda]
• Atragon (1963)
• Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
• Dogora (1964) [with Yasuyoshi Tajitsu]
• Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
• Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965)
• Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
• The Adventures of Takla Makan (1966)
• The War of the Gargantuas (1966) [with Kenichiro Tsunoda]
• Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
• The Killing Bottle (1967)
• King Kong Escapes (1967)
• Son of Godzilla (1967)
• Destroy All Monsters (1968)
• Latitude Zero (1969)
• All Monsters Attack (1969)
• Space Amoeba (1970) [with Fumio Tanaka]
• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
• Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
• Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
• Submersion of Japan (1973) [with Osamu Tanaka]
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
• Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974) [with Osamu Tanaka]
• ESPY (1974) [with Fumio Tanaka]
• Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
• The War in Space (1977) [with Fumio Tanaka]
• Magnitude 7.9 (1980)
• Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984) [with Sakyo Komatsu]
• The Return of Godzilla (1984)
• Princess from the Moon (1987) [with Shigeaki Hazama]
• Gunhed (1989) [with Eiji Yamaura]
• Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
• Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
• Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Supervisor

• Zone Fighter (TV 1973)
• Making of Godzilla (1985)
• Toho Unused Special Effects Complete Collection (1986)

Planner

• Submersion of Japan: Television Series (TV 1974)
• Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
• Rebirth of Mothra 2 (1997) [posthumous]

Storywriter

• The War in Space (1977) [as Hachiro Jinguji]
• The Return of Godzilla (1984)
• Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
• Rebirth of Mothra 2 (1997) [posthumous]

Actor

• Submersion of Japan (1973) as government official [uncredited]
• Toho Unused Special Effects Complete Collection (1986) as himself, interviewee
• Rebirth of Mothra 3 (1998) as man in photograph in Sonoda household [posthumous, uncredited]

Selected discography

Lyricist

• Mothra (1961) - "Mothra's Song" [with Ishiro Honda, Shinichi Sekizawa; as Koji Yuki]
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) - "Mothra's Song" [with Ishiro Honda, Shinichi Sekizawa]
• Rebirth of Mothra (1996) - "Mothra's Song" [with Ishiro Honda, Shinichi Sekizawa]
• Rebirth of Mothra 2 (1997) - "Mothra's Song" [posthumous; with Ishiro Honda, Shinichi Sekizawa]
• Rebirth of Mothra 3 (1998) - "Mothra's Song" [posthumous; with Ishiro Honda, Shinichi Sekizawa]
• Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003) - "Mothra's Song" [posthumous; with Ishiro Honda, Shinichi Sekizawa]

Gallery

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  Tanaka (center) with Ishiro Honda (right)

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  Tanaka with Sadamasa Arikawa, Ishiro Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, and the monster cast of Destroy All Monsters

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  Tanaka (right) with Ishiro Honda and a Godzilla attraction suit

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  Tanaka's photo (right) in Rebirth of Mothra 3

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  Tanka at an interview in the late 1960s

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Videos

Television interview on the Godzilla films

Trivia

• Rebirth of Mothra 3 was the first Toho kaiju film made without Tanaka's involvement. A framed photo of him appears in the Sonoda family's house as a tribute.
• Tanaka wrote the lyrics for Mothra's insert song, "Mothra's Song" with Ishiro Honda and Shinichi Sekizawa under the joint pen name Koji Yuki (由起こうじ,   Yuki Kōji).

External links

• New York Times obituary

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