About

Known credits:
71
Birthday:
1921-06-02
Place of birth:
Kyoto, Japan
Website:
N/A

Shinichi Sekizawa

Overview

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.

Known for

Directing
1956 Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers Directing Director N/A
N/A

Writing
1997 Rebirth of Mothra II Writing Lyricist 58
Average
1996 Rebirth of Mothra Writing Lyricist 59
Average
1993 Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider Writing Writer 59
Average
1992 Godzilla vs. Mothra Writing Lyricist 61
Fair
1989 Godzilla vs. Biollante Writing Story 63
Fair
1987 Mighty Jack Writing Writer 58
Average
1974 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla Writing Story 62
Fair
1973 Godzilla vs. Megalon Writing Lyricist 59
Average
1973 Godzilla vs. Megalon Writing Story 59
Average
1972 Godzilla vs. Gigan Writing Lyricist 60
Fair
1972 Godzilla vs. Gigan Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1969 All Monsters Attack Writing Screenplay 56
Average
1969 All Monsters Attack Writing Lyricist 56
Average
1969 Latitude Zero Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1968 風来忍法帖　八方破れ Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1968 Phantom Monster Agon Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1967 Son of Godzilla Writing Writer 60
Fair
1967 Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature Writing Writer 58
Average
1967 Young Jack and the Witch Writing Writer 58
Average
1967 The Killing Bottle Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1966 Ebirah, Horror of the Deep Writing Screenplay 60
Fair
1966 The Mad Atlantic Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1966 Zero Fighter Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1965 Invasion of Astro-Monster Writing Screenplay 61
Fair
1965 風来忍法帖 Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1965 Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon Writing Writer 58
Average
1964 Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster Writing Screenplay 62
Fair
1964 A Keg of Powder Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1964 Dogora Writing Adaptation 59
Average
1964 Dogora Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1964 Ant Hell War Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1964 Mothra vs. Godzilla Writing Screenplay 62
Fair
1963 Atragon Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1963 Samurai Pirate Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1963 Operation Mad Dog Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1963 King Kong vs. Godzilla Writing Screenplay 61
Fair
1963 Warring Clans Writing Writer 59
Average
1963 Attack Squadron Writing Writer 58
Average
1962 Varan the Unbelievable Writing Screenplay 57
Average
1962 Operation Enemy Fort Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1962 Chihō kisha Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1962 King Kong vs. Godzilla Writing Screenplay 62
Fair
1962 The Crimson Sky Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1961 Mothra Writing Lyricist 62
Fair
1961 Mothra Writing Screenplay 62
Fair
1961 Blueprint of Murder Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1960 Adventures of Princess Anmitsu Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1960 Westward Desperado Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1960 Girls Behind Bars Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1960 The Secret of the Telegian Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1960 Take Aim at the Police Van Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1960 The Last Gunfight Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1959 Battle in Outer Space Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1959 The Big Boss Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1958 Mermaids and Sea Robbers Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1958 Varan Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1958 Tomboy Samurai Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1958 Shōjo to fūsen Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1957 Queen of Asia Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1957 A Texan in Tokyo Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1956 Devil Princess’ Beauty Competition Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1956 Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1953 Tokyo Profile Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1949 娘十八嘘つき時代 Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1948 Tomorrow There Will Be Fine Weather Writing Writer N/A
N/A
Batman vs. Godzilla Writing Writer N/A
N/A

Production
1951 Children of the Beehive: What Happened Next Production Production Designer N/A
N/A

Art
1952 Children of the Great Buddha Art Production Design N/A
N/A

Crew
1968 Phantom Monster Agon Crew Creator 58
Average
1960 Maboroshi Tantei: Chiteijin Shūrai Crew Script N/A
N/A