Akira Tsuburaya (円谷) is a former Japanese film and television producer. The third son of special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, he began his career at his father's company Tsuburaya Productions while at Tamagawa University in 1966. Tsuburaya had an extremely prolific five-decade career in film and television, during which he worked on over 80 productions.
Life and career
Akira Tsuburaya was born on February 12, 1944 in Tokyo.[1] He was the third son of special effects pioneer Eiji Tsuburaya and his wife Masano Araki as well as their first child to be baptized. While at Tamagawa University, Tsuburaya began his career working in film at his father's company Tsuburaya Productions on the domestically popular Ultra Q episode, "Kanegon's Cocoon" as an assistant director in 1965. He subsequently returned to work as an assistant director on the Ultra Q episode "Challenge From the Year 2020" and the following year worked in the same position on Ultraman (TV 1966-1967). He later served as the chief assistant director of special effects on Ultraseven (TV 1967) and was also an assistant director on Operation: Mystery! (1968).