Eizo Kaimai (1929-2020)
Alias:
Cho-san
Chō-san
Kaimai Eizō
チョウさん
開米 栄三
Birthplace:
Tokyo, Japan
Born:
January 1, 1929
Died:
April 24, 2020
Eizo Kaimai (Kaimai Eizō, 1929 - April 24, 2020) was a Japanese businessman and modeler. He began working for Toho on many of their early Tokusatsu productions, and was first employed as a modeler on the original Godzilla suit for "Godzilla" (1954). He would go on to do modeling work on the first five Godzilla sequels, as well as many of Toho's other special effects films like "Rodan" (1956), "Mothra" (1961), and "Frankenstein vs. Baragon" (1965), to name a few. In 1966, one year after working on his last Godzilla film, Kaimai left Toho to instead found his own company, Kaimai Productions. In the years following, Kaimai also did modeling for rival studio Daiei's Gamera film series, and many of Tsuburaya Productions' special effects television series, most notably, Ultraman. This continued into the early 1980's with his final work being "Ultraman 80" (TV 1980-1981). Kaimai passed away on April 24, 2020, due to leukemia. At 90 years old, Kaimai was the oldest surviving creator of Godzilla, and played major roles in the legacy of other giants of special effects cinema.