Shinichi Sekizawa

Shinichi Sekizawa

  • Birthday: 1921-06-02
  • Deathday: 1992-11-19
  • Place of birth: Kyoto, Japan
  • Also know as: Shin'ichi Sekizawa

Biography

Shinichi Sekizawa (June 2, 1921 – November 11, 1992) was a Japanese screenwriter known for his immense contributions to the original Godzilla series, providing screenplays and/or stories for 10 of the original 15 Showa films. He began his career in his native Kyoto, joining an association of manga cartoonists which included the anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka. His career would be interrupted when he was reluctantly drafted to fight in the South Pacific during WWII. Sekizawa would reignite his film career in 1946 when he joined Beehive Productions as an assistant director, demonstrating a talent for screenwriting when completing the screenplay for the film Profile of the City in a record four days. Later at Shintoho Studios he would direct the now considered lost film Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers. His career at Toho began in 1958 working on Kihachi Okamoto's early films before eventually became the studio's go-to monster scripter after the immense success of his screenplay for Mothra. His kaiju screenplays for Ishiro Honda have been noted for their inventiveness, especially in his interplay of human drama blending with monster action and characterization. His lighthearted approach was contrasted to that of Takeshi Kimura, whose scripts had a darker, more cynical sensibility. Sekizawa's talents were not limited to science fiction, with his output in the 60s being as many as six screenplays a year in genres such as salaryman comedies and war movies as well as TV shows such as the original Ultraman. While Sekizawa enjoyed writing monster movies, he would eventually become tired of the Godzilla series and moved on to scripting for animating features while continuing his career as a lyricist. He was also an aficionado of model trains and published numerous publications on the subject. Before his death he was awarded a Purple ribbon by the Japanese government due to his immense artistic and cultural contributions.

Production

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

1966

As Screenplay

Atragon

1963

As Screenplay

Dogora

1964

As Screenplay

Mothra

1961

As Screenplay

Latitude Zero

1969

As Screenplay

Son of Godzilla

1967

As Writer

Invasion of Astro-Monster

1965

As Screenplay

Take Aim at the Police Van

1960

As Screenplay

Attack Squadron

1963

As Writer

Battle in Outer Space

1959

As Writer

Mighty Jack

1987

As Writer

Godzilla vs. Gigan

1972

As Writer

A Keg of Powder

1964

As Screenplay

The Killing Bottle

1967

As Screenplay

Blueprint of Murder

1961

As Screenplay

The Last Gunfight

1960

As Screenplay

The Big Boss

1959

As Screenplay

Westward Desperado

1960

As Screenplay

風来忍法帖

1965

As Screenplay

Mermaids and Sea Robbers

1958

As Screenplay

Operation Enemy Fort

1962

As Screenplay

Warring Clans

1963

As Writer

Queen of Asia

1957

As Screenplay

Phantom Monster Agon

1968

As Screenplay

Samurai Pirate

1963

As Screenplay

King Kong vs. Godzilla

1962

As Screenplay

Zero Fighter

1966

As Writer

Tokyo Profile

1953

As Screenplay

娘十八嘘つき時代

1949

As Screenplay

A Texan in Tokyo

1957

As Screenplay

Operation Mad Dog

1963

As Writer

Ant Hell War

1964

As Writer

Chihō kisha

1962

As Screenplay

鬼姫競艶録

1956

As Screenplay

Tomboy Samurai

1958

As Screenplay

Mothra vs. Godzilla

1964

As Screenplay

The Crimson Sky

1962

As Screenplay

The Secret of the Telegian

1960

As Screenplay

King Kong vs. Godzilla

1963

As Screenplay

All Monsters Attack

1969

As Screenplay

All Monsters Attack

1969

As Lyricist

Varan

1958

As Screenplay

Varan the Unbelievable

1962

As Screenplay

The Mad Atlantic

1966

As Writer

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