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Tsuburaya Productions



 
 
, or for short, is a Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya
Eiji Tsuburaya

was the Japanese special effects director responsible for many Japanese science-fiction movies, including the Godzilla series....
 and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is best known for producing the original Ultraman
Ultraman

is a fictional character featured in tokusatsu, or "special effects" television programs in Japan. Ultraman made his debut in the tokusatsu science fiction/kaiju/superhero TV series, Ultra Q: Ultraman: Special Effects Fantasy Series, a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q....
 TV series, as well as the Ultra Series
Ultra Series

The is the collective name for all the shows produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad Ultra Monsters....
. Since 2007, the Head Office has been located in Hachimanyama, Setagaya, Tokyo
Tokyo

, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshu. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the Tokyo City in the eastern part of the prefecture, and total over 8 million people....
.

t established in 1963, it was responsible for the creation of such classic shows as Ultraman
Ultraman

is a fictional character featured in tokusatsu, or "special effects" television programs in Japan. Ultraman made his debut in the tokusatsu science fiction/kaiju/superhero TV series, Ultra Q: Ultraman: Special Effects Fantasy Series, a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q....
 (and its many sequels
Ultra Series

The is the collective name for all the shows produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad Ultra Monsters....
), Kaiju Booska
Kaiju Booska

is a famous children's tokusatsu sitcom, and the first to feature the friendly monster Booska. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the show aired on Nippon TV from November 9, 1966 to September 27, 1967, with a total of 47 episodes....
 and many other spectacular tokusatsu
Tokusatsu

is a Japanese language word that literally means "special effects." It is primarily used to refer to live-action Japanese film and Japanese television drama that generally feature superheroes and make considerable use of special effects....
 family/children's shows.

The company's current logo was originally the arrow-like logo from their 1968 TV series, Mighty Jack
Mighty Jack

is a tokusatsu science fiction/espionage/Action genre TV series. Created by Japanese effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya, the show was produced by Tsuburaya Productions and was broadcast on Fuji Television from April 6, 1968 to June 29, 1968, with a total of 13 one-hour episodes....
, designed by that show's art director, Tohru "Tohl" Narita.

The company, when first formed in 1963, was called .






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Encyclopedia


, or for short, is a Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya
Eiji Tsuburaya

was the Japanese special effects director responsible for many Japanese science-fiction movies, including the Godzilla series....
 and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is best known for producing the original Ultraman
Ultraman

is a fictional character featured in tokusatsu, or "special effects" television programs in Japan. Ultraman made his debut in the tokusatsu science fiction/kaiju/superhero TV series, Ultra Q: Ultraman: Special Effects Fantasy Series, a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q....
 TV series, as well as the Ultra Series
Ultra Series

The is the collective name for all the shows produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad Ultra Monsters....
. Since 2007, the Head Office has been located in Hachimanyama, Setagaya, Tokyo
Tokyo

, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshu. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the Tokyo City in the eastern part of the prefecture, and total over 8 million people....
.

History

First established in 1963, it was responsible for the creation of such classic shows as Ultraman
Ultraman

is a fictional character featured in tokusatsu, or "special effects" television programs in Japan. Ultraman made his debut in the tokusatsu science fiction/kaiju/superhero TV series, Ultra Q: Ultraman: Special Effects Fantasy Series, a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q....
 (and its many sequels
Ultra Series

The is the collective name for all the shows produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad Ultra Monsters....
), Kaiju Booska
Kaiju Booska

is a famous children's tokusatsu sitcom, and the first to feature the friendly monster Booska. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the show aired on Nippon TV from November 9, 1966 to September 27, 1967, with a total of 47 episodes....
 and many other spectacular tokusatsu
Tokusatsu

is a Japanese language word that literally means "special effects." It is primarily used to refer to live-action Japanese film and Japanese television drama that generally feature superheroes and make considerable use of special effects....
 family/children's shows.

The company's current logo was originally the arrow-like logo from their 1968 TV series, Mighty Jack
Mighty Jack

is a tokusatsu science fiction/espionage/Action genre TV series. Created by Japanese effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya, the show was produced by Tsuburaya Productions and was broadcast on Fuji Television from April 6, 1968 to June 29, 1968, with a total of 13 one-hour episodes....
, designed by that show's art director, Tohru "Tohl" Narita.

The company, when first formed in 1963, was called . In 1968, Toho Company Ltd.
Toho

is a large Japanese independent film studio. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group....
 forced the company to change the name to just "Tsuburaya Productions," not only because they thought Eiji acted as though only he can do special effects, but they also felt that his own TV shows were becoming a strong competition to the movies he was doing for them. Although Eiji had strong political power at Toho, he and the company were at odds with each other until his death in 1970.

Their more recent work includes the "Ultra N-Project" (Ultraman the Next and Ultraman Nexus
Ultraman Nexus

was produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting. It was the 21st entry in the Ultra Series.The series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System, including TBS, CBC, MBS, etc....
) and Bio Planet WoO
Bio Planet Woo

is a "kyodai" themed tokusatsu that premiered April 9, 2006 and airs at 7:30pm on NHK and ran for 13 episodes. WoO was one of many unused ideas created by the late-Eiji Tsuburaya as story connecting to the show, Ultra Q....
, based loosely on an unused concept which was planned before the production of Ultra Q
Ultra Q

is a tokusatsu science fiction/kaiju series made in the tradition of Toho's many tokusatsu sci-fi/horror films.Produced in black and white by Tokyo Broadcasting System/Tsuburaya Productions, this is actually the first of the long-running Ultra Series, and was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System from January 2 to July 3, 1966 , with a total of...
, but never filmed.

Buyout from TYO

In October 2007, due to rising production costs, the Tsuburaya family sold the company to Japanese advertising agency TYO Inc., which now has an 80% stake in the company, with Tsuburaya itself owning 68%. Bandai
Bandai

is a Japanese toy making company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third largest producer of toys. Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs....
, the main licensor of merchandise for the Ultra Series, acquired a 33% stake. As a result, the old Kinuta Office used by Tsuburaya as its Head Office has been razed, and the company has moved to newer facilities. Many fans felt this to be the end of an era.

Kazuo Tsuburaya, Eiji's grandson, is staying with the company on its board of directors.

External links

  • (English)
  • (Japanese)