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Tsuburaya Productions

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Tsuburaya Productions Co., Limited
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTokusatsu TV and movies
PredecessorTsuburaya Special
Technology Laboratory
FoundedApril 12, 1963[1]
FounderEiji Tsuburaya
HeadquartersHachimanyama, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Key people
Tsuneyuki Morishima, President
Shinichi Ôka, Vice President
Junya Okabe, Vice President
ProductsUltraman, Ultra Series
Number of employees
162[2]
ParentTsuburaya Fields Holdings (51%)
Bandai Namco Holdings (49%)
Websitetsuburaya-prod.com Edit this at Wikidata

Tsuburaya Productions (円谷プロダクション, Tsuburaya Purodakushon) is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya. It 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 Ultra Series. Since 2007, the head office has been located in Hachimanyama, Setagaya, Tokyo.[3]

History

Setagaya, Tokyo–The Kinuta office, which was used by Tsuburaya Productions as the head office from 1964 to 2005Tsuburaya closed the office on February 6, 2008, and sold it.[4][5]

First established in 1963, it was responsible for the creation of classic shows including Ultraman (and its many sequels), Kaiju Booska, as well as many more spectacular tokusatsu family/children's shows.[3]

The company's current logo was originally the arrow-like logo from their 1968 TV series, Mighty Jack; it was designed by the show's art director, Tohl Narita. Narita also left the company in that year.[6]

The company, when first formed in 1963, was named Tsuburaya Special Effects Productions (円谷特技プロダクション, Tsuburaya Tokugi Purodakushon).[1][7] In 1968, Toho Company Ltd. forced the company to change its name to simply "Tsuburaya Productions", not only because the executives thought Eiji was acting as though only he could have done special effects, but also because they felt that his own TV shows were becoming strong competition for the movies he was making for them. Although Eiji had clout at Toho, he and the company were at odds with each other until his death in 1970.

Tsuburaya's more recent work includes the "Ultra N-Project" (Ultraman the Next and Ultraman Nexus) based loosely on an unused concept which was planned before the production of Ultra Q, but never actually filmed.[8][9]

Tsuburaya has officially made their Ultraman and non-Ultraman content widely available on their YouTube channel, even simulcasting several of their series with English subtitles.[10] The channel has more than two million subscribers.[11]

Corporate buyout

In October 2007, due to rising production costs, the Tsuburaya family sold the company to Japanese advertising agency TYO Inc. TYO then held an 80% stake in the company.[12] Bandai, the main licensor of merchandise for the Ultra Series, acquired a 33.4% stake in 2007[13] with TYO transferring another 15.6% to Bandai in 2009[13] giving Bandai a total of 49.9% of the company.[13] As a result, the old Kinuta office used by Tsuburaya as its head office was razed; the company moved to newer facilities. Kazuo Tsuburaya, Eiji's grandson, stayed on the board of directors for the company.[14]

In 2010, pachinko maker Fields Corporation bought out TYO's 51% stake in Tsuburaya Productions; Bandai retained the remaining 49% of the company.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b "Company Profile". www.tsuburaya-prod.co.jp. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  2. ^ "株式会社円谷プロダクションの会社情報、中途採用、求人情報 － 転職ならdoda（デューダ）". Doda.jp. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  3. ^ a b The Official Tsuburaya Productions English Webpage company profile
  4. ^ If only 'Ultraman' was here to stop the wrecking ballAsahi Shimbun February 7, 2008 (English website)　
  5. ^ 円谷プロの“聖地”にお別れ Archived 2008-02-09 at the Wayback Machine MSNSankei news February 6, 2008 (Japanese website)
  6. ^ "Profile". TOHL NARITA. Retrieved Jul 30, 2020.
  7. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 47.
  8. ^ Japanese book: The Man Called the "Father of Tokusatsu"　特撮の神様と呼ばれた男 ISBN 4-901006-21-5
  9. ^ Japanese book: Eiji Tsuburaya: The Inheritance Left in the Japanese Film World　円谷英二 日本映画界に残した遺産 ISBN 4-09-681421-0
  10. ^ "ウルトラマン公式 ULTRAMAN OFFICIAL by TSUBURAYA PROD. - YouTube". YouTube.
  11. ^ "【チャンネル登録200万人達成御礼！】ウルトラヒーローからのスペシャルメッセージ「進もう、共に！」 - YouTube". YouTube.
  12. ^ "TYO to Acquire Ultraman Production Group". JCN Newswire - Japan Corporate News Network. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  13. ^ a b c "TYO Transfers More Ownership of Tsuburaya to Bandai". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  14. ^ "Tsuburaya Productions Sold « SciFi Japan". www.scifijapan.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved Jul 30, 2020.
  15. ^ Schilling, Mark (17 March 2010). "Fields takes over Ultraman producer". Variety. Variety. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
Bibliography
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