Tomoyuki Tanaka(1910-1997)

Tomoyuki Tanaka was born on April 26, 1910 in Kashiwara, Osaka, Japan. He graduated from Kansai University in 1940 and joined Toho Studios the same year. After four years with the company, he became a producer, with his first film production being Kita no san-nin (1945). He was set to begin work on a Japanese-Indonesian film called "Eiko no Kanatani" (Behind the Glory); however, the Indonesian government did not grant work visas to the Japanese cast and crew. As a result, he had to think of something big enough to replace the scrapped movie. During a trip home to Japan, Tanaka peered out the airplane window and gazed towards the dark ocean below, wondering what lay beneath those waves. Then, he got the brilliant idea: make a film about a gigantic monster. Thus, Godzilla was born!

With a respected team of crew members including Director Ishirô Honda, Special Effects Man Eiji Tsuburaya and Composer Akira Ifukube, these "Four Fathers" created the first ever Godzilla (1954) movie, which would go on to become one of the highest-grossing films in Japan of all time and would feature a monster that would be a most recognizable and lasting icon of pop-culture not only in Japan, but in countries around the world. Tanaka would go on to produce 21 of the many sequels to Godzilla (1954), and other Toho sci-fi films such as Rodan (1956), Prisonnières des Martiens (1957), Varan, le monstre géant (1958), Mothra (1961) and Ataragon (1963). Tanaka has produced or oversaw every Toho sci-fi film up to 1997 and has also produced six films with acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa.

Tanaka passed away in Tokyo on April 2, 1997 at the age of 86.