Eizo Yamagiwa, Director of Various Ultra-Shows, Passes Away at 92

Eizo Yamagiwa in July 2022. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Longtime Ultra-series director Eizo Yamagiwa passed away on November 28 at a Tokyo hospital from sepsis due to old age. A private funeral has already been held. He was 92. 

Born on July 22, 1932, Eizo Yamagiwa began his career in the film industry at Shintoho in the mid-1950s as an assistant director. During his time at the studio, he worked on the seventh entry in the Starman film series, Super Giant: The Space Mutant Appears (1958), which was one of the three Starman features that was eventually edited into the American release Evil Brain from Outer Space. 

Ultra-series alumni Shozo Uehara (left), Toshihiro Iijima (center), and Eizo Yamagiwa enjoy a chat in March 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Yamagiwa-san also worked as an assistant director under Teruo Ishii at Shintoho before launching his career as a director of film and television. At Tsuburaya Productions, Yamagiwa-san directed episodes 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 28, 29, 34, and 35 of Return of Ultraman (1971-72), episodes 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, 16, 21, 22, 28, 29, 38, and 39 of Ultraman Ace (1972-73), episodes 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 14, 20, 21, 24, 25, 39, 40, 47, 48 (as well as episode 28 as special effects director) of Ultraman Taro (1973-74), and episodes 50 and 51 of Ultraman Leo (1974-75).

Mitsuhiro Sano, Keiji Takamine, Eizo Yamagiwa, and Shigemitsu Taguchi gather at an Ultraman Ace reunion in February 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

He also helmed episodes 3, 4, 14, and 15 of Silver Kamen (1971-72), episode 4 of Horror Theater Unbalance (1973), episodes 11 and 13 (as well as episode 11 as co-scriptwriter with Ei Ogawa) of Jekyll and Hyde (1973), and episodes 8, 9, 16, and 17 of the Submersion of Japan TV series (1974-75).

I first met Yamagiwa-san in March 2016 at a book-launch party for an Ultra Q (1966) tome. There were numerous luminaries in attendance from the world of tokusatsu, and Yamagiwa-san was among them. Even though I didn't know who he was at the time, Yamagiwa-san seemed surprised that an American was at the event, so he approached me. He gave me his business card, and, bowled over that he would come up and introduce himself to me, I asked that we take a picture together. Of course, it didn't take long for me to become familiar with Yamagiwa-san's work.

Eizo Yamagiwa in February 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Over the years, we met several times at events and a couple of times on a personal level. In fact, a month after we first met, we went to a Chinese restaurant in Shibuya together and ate dinner. At that dinner, Yamagiwa-san signed and gave me a book about Return of Ultraman in which he participated as an interviewee. We also talked about various movies from around the world we enjoyed. One title I recall that Yamagiwa-san cited was 8 1/2 (1963). However, when I mentioned Ed Wood (1994), another movie about moviemaking, he wasn't familiar with it, which was to be expected.

Shigemitsu Taguchi (left), Eizo Yamagiwa (center), and Akihiko Iguchi gather to discuss their work on the '70s Ultra-series in November 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

As Yamagiwa-san got older, however, it became more and more difficult to meet up. I'd still catch him at an event here and there, but, when I would call him, we couldn't seem to get our schedules to match.

Eizo Yamagiwa interviewed at his home in November 2020. Photo by Brett Homenick.

In 2020, I began doing interviews again in a big way, and I was pleased that Yamagiwa-san agreed to do one with me. In fact, in the beginning, he wasn't sure he would participate at all. I guess he felt he'd given enough interviews on his work in the Ultra-series and wasn't too keen on doing any more. So he wanted to see a sample of the questions I wanted to ask before accepting.

With Eizo Yamagiwa in June 2018.

My translator mailed him the translated version of my questions, which covered a wide variety of topics, including his early life and his work at Shintoho, with the Starman series. It was apparently enough to get him to agree to the interview, as we conducted it just a few weeks later.

Eizo Yamagiwa next to his bookshelf in November 2020. Photo by Brett Homenick.

We did the interview at Yamagiwa-san's home in Eifuku. It was a fascinating history, and I'm very glad he shared it with me. I was especially interested in hearing about his work on the Starman series. In fact, after the interview, I told Yamagiwa-san how I first saw clips of the Starman movies on the old Muppet Babies cartoon show in America. I wanted to point out how the Starman movies became part of American pop culture in surprising ways. His reaction? I'll do my best at an exact quote from memory: "If that had been Japan, I would have tried to sue them." I guess my anecdote didn't go over very well.

Ultra-series veterans Susumu Kurobe (left), Mitsuko Hoshi (center), and Eizo Yamagiwa share the stage in June 2018. Photo by Brett Homenick.

My other memory from the interview is that Yamagiwa-san wanted his photo taken next to his bookshelf so that people could see his collection. I guess he was quite proud of it!

I last saw Yamagiwa-san at an event in July 2022. It was great to see him again there, and I finally was able to get him to sign something Starman-related. I had a DVD sleeve made from cardstock from an old Mill Creek 50-movie pack that included Evil Brain from Outer Space. I brought it for Yamagiwa-san to sign, and I told him it was the U.S. version of the Starman movie he worked on. I remember he did a great job of reading the U.S. title out loud from the DVD sleeve, which was fun to see.

After the event, I bumped into him again by chance as he was getting into a taxi as he was leaving. I said goodbye to him again as he entered the vehicle to go home. Little did I know I'd never see him in person again.

With Eizo Yamagiwa in November 2020.

To the best of my memory, I called him in May 2023, asking to meet up. He told me he was too old, so he had to decline my request. When I knew I was leaving Japan, I asked a mutual friend to try to arrange a meeting, hoping he would have better luck, but that didn't work, either. I wish I could have met him again before I left.

With Eizo Yamagiwa in July 2022.

Rest in peace, director. Your legacy in film lives on.