(28 September 1933 – 14 June 2004) was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. Yuasa is the main director of the Japanese film series ''

Gamera is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. Debuting in the 1965 film ''Gamera, the Giant Monster'', the character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's ''Godzilla'' film ...

'', about a giant flying turtle that befriends small boys and battles giant monsters. The series was created by

Daiei Film Daiei Film Co. Ltd. ( Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ''Daiei Eiga Kabushiki Kaisha'') was a Japanese film studio. Founded in 1942 as Dai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, producing ...

Studios after the box office success of the

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

'' series.

Biography

Noriaki Yuasa was born 28 September 1933 in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan. Yuasa was the son of a stage actor and began work at a young age as a child actor. After graduating university, he began to seek work on the production of films. Yuasa joined

Daiei Studios Daiei Film Co. Ltd. (Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ''Daiei Eiga Kabushiki Kaisha'') was a Japanese film studio. Founded in 1942 as Dai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, producing ...

in 1955 and became director in 1964 with the musical comedy film ''Shiawasa nara te o tatake'' (). Yuasa's next project was a film tentatively tiled ''Dai gunju Nezura'' (lit. The Great Rat Swarm) which would involve real rats crawling over miniatures of cities. The rats received for the film had fleas, which halted production on ''Dai gunju Nezura''. As the miniatures for the film were already built,

Masaichi Nagata was a Japanese businessman and served as president of Daiei Film. The self-proclaimed creator of Gamera, he produced the kaiju's second film ''Gamera vs. Barugon'', with the remainder of the Showa ''Gamera'' films produced instead by his son Hi ...

had to develop a giant monster to attack the city and had the idea for a giant flying turtle. Yuasa, with his screenwriter Nisan Takahashi, developed the idea into the 1965 film '' Gamera the Giant Monster''. Yuasa continued work directing films in the series except ''

Gamera vs. Barugon is a 1966 Japanese Kaiju, ''kaiju'' film directed by Shigeo Tanaka, with special effects by Noriaki Yuasa and Kazufumi Fujii. Produced by Daiei Film, it is the second entry in the Gamera, ''Gamera'' franchise, and stars Kōjirō Hongō, Kyōko E ...

'', where he was only the special effects director. Yuasa's personal favourite of his ''Gamera'' films was ''Gamera vs. Viras''. Following the collapse of Daiei in 1971, he predominantly directed work for television, including '' Electroid Zaborger'' (1974) and ''

Ultraman 80 is a Japanese tokusatsu TV show produced by Tsuburaya Productions which aired on the Tokyo Broadcasting System channel from April 2, 1980, to March 25, 1981, lasting a total of 50 episodes. After going off the air in 1981, the network still aire ...

'' (1980). His last full film was '' Gamera, Super Monster'', which included extensive stock footage from the previous seven ''Gamera'' films. He later worked on smaller

V-Cinema Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

videos such as ''Kosupure senshi kyūtī naito 2 teikoku-ya no gyakushū'' (). Yuasa died of a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in Japan on 14 June 2004.

Select filmography

Film

Television

* ''

Denjin Zaborger , translated as ''Electroid Zaborger 7'', was a Japanese tokusatsu television series that aired in 1974. Produced by P Productions, it was the production company's seventh tokusatsu series, following ''Tetsujin Tiger Seven'' and preceding ''Bouke ...

'' (1974) * ''

'' (1980)

V-Cinema

* ''Kosupure senshi kyūtī naito 2 teikoku-ya no gyakushū'' (1996)

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yuasa, Noriaki Japanese film directors 1933 births 2004 deaths People from Tokyo