Toshio Masuda, the director behind Uchuu Senkan Yamato (Space Battleship Yamato) movies, died on August 26 due to natural causes. He was 98.

The Directors Guild of Japan announced the news on Thursday, stating that Masuda died at a hospital in Tokyo. A private funeral service has been held by his close relatives.

Born in Kobe in 1927, Masuda was expelled from a technical training school in July 1945 due to a mismatch with its military indoctrination. He later attended the Osaka University of Foreign Studies (now Osaka University), where he studied Russian literature. His interest shifted toward filmmaking after becoming enamored with French cinema, alongside a desire to avoid a career as a salaryman. Following his graduation in 1949, he moved to Tokyo to study screenwriting at the Shintoho Studio's Scenario Academy.

In 1950, Studio film Shintoho hired Masuda as a screenwriter and assistant director under Umetsugu Inoue, Nobuo Nakagawa, and Mikio Naruse. He served as the second assistant director on Naruse's Ginza Cosmetics (1951) and Mother (1952). Inoue became a mentor to Masuda, leading to script collaborations and Masuda writing rough drafts for several of Inoue's projects.

Masuda made his directorial debut at Nikkatsu studio in 1958 and directed numerous live-action movies throughout the 1960s. In 1970, he co-directed the Japanese segments of the Hollywood World War II film Tora! Tora! Tora! alongside Kinji Fukasaku.

Masuda entered the animation industry in 1974, handling the supervision and original planning for the television anime Uchuu Senkan Yamato and its 1978 sequel Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2. He made his anime directorial debut with the 1977 compilation movie Uchuu Senkan Yamato.

Within this franchise, he directed and wrote the scripts for Saraba Uchuu Senkan Yamato: Ai no Senshi-tachi and Yamato yo Towa ni, and handled the script and chief supervision for Uchuu Senkan Yamato: Kanketsu-hen. He also supervised Uchuu Senkan Yamato: Aratanaru Tabidachi, Yamato 2520, and Uchuu Senkan Yamato: Fukkatsu-hen.

Outside of the Yamato franchise, Masuda directed Toei Animation's Future War 198X-nen and co-directed and wrote the script for Odin: Koushi Hansen Starlight. His other anime credits include handling supervision for the compilation movie of Umi no Triton and the Sangokushi trilogy between 1992 and 1994.

Masuda was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1993 and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 1999 for his contributions to Japanese cinema.

Source: The Mainichi