# Noriaki Yuasa

Noriaki Yuasa (湯浅 憲明, Yuasa Noriaki) (28 September 1933 – 14 June 2004) was a Japanese director. Yuasa was the main director of the Japanese film series Gamera, about a giant flying turtle that befriends small boys and battles giant monsters; he directed seven of the first eight films in the series while also providing special effects for one of them. The series was created by Daiei Film Studios after the box office success of the Toho Godzilla series. Yuasa's career for television dramas marks him as one of the best hitmakers for domestic television industries during the 1970s.

## Biography

Noriaki Yuasa was born 28 September 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. Yuasa was the son of a stage actor Hikaru Hoshi (jp). Additionally. his paternal grandmother was a shinpa actress Hideko Azuma, and his uncle Koji Shima was a movie director. Yuaasa began work at a young age as a child actor, while some of his careers were cancelled due to the World War II. Yuasa's childhood experiences to witness adults, including his own teachers, to manipulate children for war and political affairs influenced his direction to make Gamera as the faithful protector of children. Regarding war issues, he was vocally critical of the 1954 film Godzilla for its depictions of war aftermaths, which he deemed incorrect.
After graduating university, he began to seek work on the production of films. Yuasa joined Daiei Studios in 1955 and became director in 1964 with the musical comedy film If You're Happy, Clap Your Hands (jp). He also participated in the 1956 tokusatsu film Warning from Space by his uncle Koji Shima as an extra, where Yuasa in his youth appeared in Shima's drama Twelve hours before going to the war (出征前十二時間, Shusseimae Jūnijikan), and Yuasa later studied under Shima.
Yuasa's next project was a film tentatively titled Giant Horde Beast Nezura which would involve real rats crawling over miniatures of cities. The rats received for the film had fleas, which halted production on Nezura. As the miniatures for the film were already built, Masaichi Nagata had to develop a giant monster to attack the city and had the idea for a giant flying turtle. Yuasa, with his screenwriter Niisan Takahashi, developed the idea into the 1965 film Gamera the Giant Monster.
Yuasa continued work directing films in the series except Gamera vs. Barugon, where he was only the special effects director. Yuasa's personal favorite of his Gamera films was Gamera vs. Viras. Following the collapse of Daiei in 1971, he predominantly directed work for television, such as Electroid Zaborger, Iron King, and Ultraman-related productions; Princess Comet, Ultraman 80, and Anime-chan (jp) where Ultraman 80 instead influenced the production of the Heisei Gamera trilogy by Tokuma Shoten although Yuasa was critical of the trilogy. His last full film was Gamera, Super Monster, which included extensive stock footage from the previous seven Gamera films.
The success of the Gamera franchise temporary ameliorated the financial situation of Daiei Film, resulting in launching of subsequent tokusatsu productions most notably Daimajin and Yokai Monsters, and the Gamera franchise was practically the sole supporter of the company until its actual bankruptcy; at the bankruptcy, Yuasa allegedly destroyed suits and models of Gamera productions due to his frustration and distress. where the aforementioned Gamera, Super Monster exclusively relied on stock footages.
He later worked on smaller V-Cinema videos such as Kosupure senshi kyūtī naito 2 teikoku-ya no gyakushū (transl. Cosplay Warrior Cutie ・ Night 2 Counterattack of Imperial Shop) where he had appeared as the character "Dr. Yuasa", and also directed the acting of Gamera by Hurricane Ryu who has also written the 1994 comic Giant Monster Gamera.
After the bankruptcy of Daiei Film, Yuasa devoted in productions of television dramas and advanced his career, and was eventually addressed as one of the best hitmakers of domestic television industries at that time.
Yuasa died of a stroke in Japan on 14 June 2004. Most of stakeholders of himself and Daiei Film were unaware of his condition and death knew after an obituary was published due to Yuasa's testament to "fade out" and to keep his death confidential.
Kiyoshi Kawamura published a novel titled The Flute of Gomera in 1971 after the bankruptcy of Daiei Film, which featured Daiei Film's tokusatsu crews facing hardships regards Gamera and other productions; its protagonist was based on Yonesaburo Tsukiji while characters based on Yuasa, with his name based on Yuasa's father Hikaru Hoshi (jp), and others also appeared. The 2020 biopic Nezura 1964 also featured a character based on Yuasa.

## Select filmography
### Film

| Title | Year | Credited as | Credited as | Notes | Ref(s) |
| Title | Year | Director | Special effects director | Notes | Ref(s) |
| Women Are Born Twice (jp) | 1961 | | | Assistant director | |
| Okoto and Sasuke | 1961 | | | Assistant director | |
| The Temple of the Wild Geese | 1962 | | | Assistant director | |
| The Graceful Brute | 1962 | | | Assistant director | |
| Giant Horde Beast Nezura | 1964 | | | Editor | |
| If You're Happy, Clap Your Hands (jp) | 1964 | Yes | | | |
| Gamera the Giant Monster | 1965 | Yes | | | |
| Gamera vs. Barugon | 1966 | | Yes | | |
| Gamera vs. Gyaos | 1967 | Yes | | | |
| Gamera vs. Viras | 1968 | Yes | | | |
| The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch | 1968 | Yes | | | |
| Gamera vs. Guiron | 1969 | Yes | | | |
| Anata gonomi no | 1969 | Yes | | | |
| Fire for the Glory (jp) | 1969 | | Yes | | |
| The Falcon Fighters (jp) | 1969 | | Yes | | |
| Gamera vs. Jiger | 1970 | Yes | | | |
| Hadaka de dakko | 1970 | Yes | | | |
| I am 5 years old (jp) | 1970 | Yes | | | |
| Gamera vs. Zigra | 1971 | Yes | | | |
| Seijuku | 1971 | Yes | | | |
| Snow Country Elegy | 1971 | Yes | | | |
| Gamera, Super Monster | 1980 | Yes | | | |
| Anime-chan (jp) | 1984 | Yes | | | |

### Television

* Investigative Prosecutor (1964-1965)
* The Guard-man (jp) (1965-1968)
* Saturday's Tiger (jp) (1966)
* Secret Order 883 (jp) (1967)
* Anata nara Dousuru (1967)
* Jun-ai Series (1967)
* Doremifa Nikki (1968)
* Okusama wa 18 sai (jp) (1970)
* Anata wa Inai (1970)
* Nantatte 18 sai (jp) (1971)
* Bijin wa ikaga? (jp) (1971)
* Medaka no Uta (jp) (1971)
* Onna no toki ga hoshiino (1971)
* Iron King (1972)
* Mom is the rival (jp) (1972)
* Ai chan ga iku! (jp) (1972)
* GO!GO Skyer (jp) (1973)
* Love Love Rival (jp) (1973)
* Onmitsu Kenshi Tsuppashire! (jp) (1973)
* Magokoro (jp) (1973)
* Denjin Zaborger (1974)
* White Fang (jp) (1974)
* Homeless Child (jp) (1974)
* False Parents (jp) (1974)
* Adventure (jp) (1975)
* Rainbow Airport (jp) (1975)
* Sore Yuke! Katchin (jp) (1975)
* Kofuku Yuki (jp) (1975)
* Papa is single (jp) (1976)
* Keiji monogatari: Hoshizora ni ute! (jp) (1976)
* Superdog Black (jp) (1977)
* Jiken Maruhi Oryōrihō (jp) (1977)
* Princess Comet (1978)
* Inochi Haterumade (jp) (1978)
* Keppare! Dai-chan (jp) (1979)
* Ultraman 80 (1980)
* Uwasa no keiji: Tommy and Matsu (jp)（1980-1982）
* Superdog Black 2 (jp) (1981)
* Secret Detective (jp) (1981)
* Dannasama wa 18 sai (jp) (1982)
* Dreadful family Geronimo (jp) (1983)
* Mandatory Retirement Friend (jp) (1986)
* Dreadful Residential Center (jp) (1986)
* Nagoya Marriage Story 2 (jp) (1990)

### V-Cinema

* Cosplay Warrior Cutie (1.0 and 1.3) (1995)
* Cosplay Warrior Cutie ・ Night 2 Counterattack of Imperial Shop (1996)

### Others

* Warning from Space (1956, as an extra)
* Flight from Ashiya (1964)
* promotion film for the 4th Nippon Jamboree (1966)
* Bright Town
* Gamera Special (1991)
* The Gamera That Never Was: Gamera vs. Garasharp (1991)
* Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1998)
* Videos for karaoke