Space Battleship Yamato Film Director Toshio Masuda Dies at 98
Newspapers Mainichi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun both reported on Thursday that film director and screenwriter Toshio Masuda died of old age on August 26. He was 98.
Masuda was born in Kobe in October 1927. He made his directorial debut in 1958 with the film Kokoro to Nikutai no Tabi while working at Nikkatsu, which he joined in 1954 after working for Shintoho. At Nikkatsu he also directed such films as Rusty Knife, Red Handkerchief, and Red Quay.
He is perhaps best known outside of Japan for co-directing the Japanese sequences of the 1970 Japanese-American war film Tora! Tora! Tora!. Some of his other famous works include High Teen Boogie, Katayoku Dake no Tenshi, and Prophecies of Nostradamus, and he was nominated for the Best Director Award at the 4th and 13th Japan Academy Film Prizes for his films The Battle of Port Arthur and Company Executives, respectively.
In anime, Masuda oversaw the scripts and supervised the 1974 Star Blazers TV series. He later directed the 1977 Space Battleship Yamato film compilation of the series. He was one of the directors and scriptwriters for the 1978 film Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato, the 1979 film Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage, and the 1980 film Be Forever Yamato.
Additionally he was the chief supervisor and one of the scriptwriters of the 1983 film Final Yamato, and was the general supervisor for the 2009 film Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection.
He also co-directed the Future War Year 198X film, and was the chief director and one of the screenwriters for the Odin - Starlight Mutiny film.
Masuda directed 82 total films in his career, and was praised as "a craftsman among craftsmen." He received the Award for Distinguished Service from the Chairman at the 41st Japan Academy Prizes in 2018. He was awarded with the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon in 1993, and with The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette in 1999.
The Japan Academy Film Prize Association posted its condolences on Friday.
舛田利雄監督の訃報に接し、謹んでご冥福をお祈り申し上げます。— 日本アカデミー賞協会 (@japanacademy) September 25, 20261950年新東宝入社し、54年に日活に移籍。58年「心と肉体の旅」で監督デビュー。「赤いハンカチ」「紅の流れ星」などを手掛け、日活アクション映画の全盛時代を築きました。68年「トラ・トラ・トラ!」以降フリーとなりました。 pic.twitter.com/ayVn33WtUc
Sources: Mainichi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun via MyAnimeList
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