Godzilla and Ultraman Costume Modeler Eizo Kaimai Passes Away At Age 90

Eizo Kaimai, a costume modeler on many famous tokusatsu works including Godzilla (1954), passed away on April 24th.

Eizo Kaimai passed away on April 24th after a battle with Leukemia, and a funeral was held by relatives. Kaimai had played an integral role in the creation of ground-breaking tokusatsu works dating back to the origin of the genre.

Born in 1929 Tokyo, Eizo Kaimai had a hand in the origins of the tokusatsu genre by modeling costumes for the original Godzilla film. Following this, Kaimai went on to work on the many follow-up films of the 1950’s and 60’s including Godzilla Raids Again, Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956), King Kong vs. Godzilla, and Mothra vs. Godzilla.

In 1966, Kaimai lent his expertise to Ultra Q, the predecessor of Ultraman. The 1970’s would see Kaimai return to Ultraman to work on Return of Ultraman. He would go on to have a hand in many of the most famous Ultra Series entries including Ultraman Ace, Ultraman Taro, Ultraman Leo, and 1980’s Ultraman 80. Along the way, Eizo Kaimai would form and work under his own company, Kaimai Productions.

Eizo Kaimai lived to 90 years old and passed away in his home.

Sources: Tokyo Web, IMDb