Godzilla film director Yoshimitsu Banno dies at 86

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A life-size Godzilla head on a balcony of the eighth floor of Hotel Gracery Shinjuku is displayed during the official unveiling ceremony in Tokyo on April 9, 2015. AFP file photo

 

TOKYO: Japanese director best known for his film “Godzilla vs Hedorah,” Yoshimitsu Banno died of a subarachnoid hemorrhage at his home in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture on Sunday, Japan’s Jiji Press reported.

He was 86.

Born in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, Banno joined major Japanese movie distributor Toho Co. in 1955 and directed the 1971 science fiction film featuring Godzilla’s battle with Hedorah, a pollutant monster.

Banno also served as executive producer for Hollywood’s “Godzilla” movie released in 2014.

In the world of television, he made documentaries such as the “Subarashii Sekai Ryoko” (“Wonderful World Travel”) series. – Bernama