Biography for
Ishirô Honda More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

7 May 1911, Yamagata, Japan

Date of Death

28 February 1993, Tokyo, Japan (respiratory failure)

Birth Name

Ishiro Honda

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Influential Japanese film director born May 7th, 1911, often credited as being the father of Godzilla. His name is a combination of "I" (or Ino), meaning "boar" and "shirô," meaning fourth boy in the family. Originally, the young Honda had aspirations of becoming an artist. However, as he moved into his teens, it was cinema that became his number-one interest.

He attended Nippon University studying art, but was drafted by the Japanese military and spent nearly eight years in uniform. After a period of imprisonment in China as a POW, he returned to Japan to join Tôhô Studios, where, soon afterward, he became acquainted with SFX wizard Eiji Tsuburaya. The two worked on a handful of films before collaborating on the groundbreaking monster epic Godzilla (1954) (aka "Godzilla"). Honda was also at the director's helm for Rodan (1956) (aka "Rodan"), Battle in Outer Space (1959) (aka "Battle in Outer Space"), Mothra (1961) (aka "Mothra"), Matango (1963), and Destroy All Monsters (1968) (aka "Destroy All Monsters"). Although the Japanese monster films had been derided by some critics, Honda was especially proud of his contribution to this rather unique aspect of the fantasy and science-fiction genres.

Honda was a lifelong friend of fellow Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and Honda worked on several of Kurosawa's landmark films including Stray Dog (1949) (aka "Stray Dog"), Kagemusha (1980) (aka "Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior"), and Ran (1985).

Honda passed away aged 81 on February 28th, 1993, with Akira Kurosawa delivering the eulogy at his funeral.

IMDb Mini Biography By: firehouse44@hotmail.com

Spouse

Kimi Honda

(1937 - 28 February 1993) (his death) 2 children

Trade Mark

Frequently shows scenes of people being overwhelmed by an ambush of crowds, human or inhuman, based on a fear he had while stationed in China during World War II.

Trivia

One of the major creative forces of Gojira (Godzilla), Japan's most important cinematic export.

Akira Kurosawa delivered his eulogy.

He was best friends with director Akira Kurosawa. In later years, when his health was failing, Kurosawa would call upon him to help him with his productions.

He originally trained to be an artist, like his best friend, fellow director Akira Kurosawa. His films were noted for their pictorial compositions.

Personal Quotes

Monsters are born too tall, too strong, too heavy, that is their tragedy.