Fumio Tanaka

Fumio Tanaka Born September 22, 1941 Tokyo Prefecture, Japan Died April 12, 2009 Occupation Producer, Writer First work Resurrection of the Beast (1969) Notable work The Return of Godzilla (1984)

Fumio Tanaka (田中文雄,   Tanaka Fumio), also known by the pen names Mitsuru Takihara (滝原 満,   Takihara Mitsuru) and Keiichiro Kusanagi (草薙 圭一郎,   Kusanagi Keiichirō), was a Japanese film producer and novelist. Tanaka was hired as an assistant producer by Toho in 1964, and the first film he worked on was Resurrection of the Beast in 1969. He then produced the 1970 kaiju film Space Amoeba, directed by Ishiro Honda. Tanaka would go on to produce several of Toho's films in the 1970's, including Michio Yamamoto's Bloodthirsty Trilogy, co-producing many of them with Tomoyuki Tanaka. Outside of film, Tanaka was a professional novelist, and wrote numerous fantasy, horror, and mystery novels throughout his career. Tanaka also provided an audio commentary for Toho's 2004 DVD release of Space Amoeba, which was subtitled and included on Tokyo Shock's 2006 Region 1 release of the film. Tanaka passed away on April 12, 2009 at the age of 67 due to a cerebral hemorrhage.

Selected Filmography

• The Vampire Doll (1970) - Producer [with Tomoyuki Tanaka]
• Space Amoeba (1970) - Producer [with Tomoyuki Tanaka]
• Lake of Dracula (1971) - Producer
• Evil of Dracula (1974) - Producer
• ESPY (1974) - Producer [with Tomoyuki Tanaka]
• The War in Space (1977) - Producer [with Tomoyuki Tanaka]
• Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984) - Assistant producer [with Shiro Fujiwara]
• The Return of Godzilla (1984) - Producer [with Tomoyuki Tanaka]

External Links

• Interview by David Milner and Guy Tucker (March 1995)