Ishirô Honda(1911-1993)

He was best friends with fellow director Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa considered Honda to be his equal as a director and in his later years, when his health was failing, would call upon Honda to assist him with his productions. Honda would be the one who delivered the congratulations on behalf of Toho when Kurosawa won his Academy Award. Throughout his career, Kurosawa spoke highly of Honda's contributions to film and, after Honda's death, would deliver the eulogy at his funeral.

[on Rodan] Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy. They do not attack people because they want to, but because of their size and strength, mankind has no other choice but to defend himself. After several stories such as this, people end up having a kind of affection for the monsters. They end up caring about them.