Toho Director Tsugunobu 'Tom' Kotani Passes Away at 84

Tom Kotani in May 2018. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Japanese director Tsugunobu "Tom" Kotani died of heart failure at his home in Komae, Tokyo, at 10:48 p.m. on December 13, 2020. He was 84 years old. A private funeral was held in his honor, for which his eldest son Hidenobu served as chief mourner.

Mr. Kotani was born on December 21, 1935, in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward. He majored in French literature at the University of Tokyo. Upon graduation, Mr. Kotani took the Toho entrance exam in 1960 and joined the studio along with seven other newcomers, including future Godzilla 1985 (1984) director Koji Hashimoto. His first job as an assistant director was on the Hiroshi Inagaki fantasy Gen and Acala (a.k.a. The Youth and His Amulet, 1961), co-starring Toshiro Mifune and Yosuke Natsuki (and with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya).

Teruyoshi Nakano (left) with Tom Kotani in July 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

After becoming a director in his own right in 1970, Mr. Kotani helmed the Yuzo Kayama vehicle It’s My Sky! Young Guy (1970) and the Tetsuya Watari actioner Cockroach Cop (1973). His best known credits would be the Rankin/Bass productions The Last Dinosaur (1977), The Bermuda Depths (1978), and The Ivory Ape (1980). He also directed The Bushido Blade (1981), with Toshiro Mifune, Richard Boone, and a variety of Western and Japanese talent in front of the camera.

Tom Kotani with The Last Dinosaur actress Masumi Sekiya in November 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Mr. Kotani was formerly married to Toho actress Wakako Tanabe, who played Gaira’s Haneda Airport victim in War of the Gargantuas (1966).

I was fortunate to meet Mr. Kotani on several occasions. He took interest in me as an American when we first met at a public event in November 2016 and exchanged contact information. Due to his poor hearing, he preferred to communicate via text messages instead of phone calls. We met a couple of times near home (which was still close to Toho Studios) for lunch. I certainly enjoyed learning about his life and career from those meetings. While we never did a formal interview (he declined the one time I asked), I did take notes on our conversations.

I wanted to see him again, but due to COVID concerns, I put off reaching out to him for about the last year. But I’ll also remember his kindness and appreciate the time we were able to spend together.

Rest in peace, director Kotani.