Biography

Teruyoshi Nakano was born on October 9, 1935 in Dandong, Liaoning, China. He was an assistant director, known for Godzilla 1985 (1985), Shuto shôshitsu (1987) and Princess from the Moon (1987). He died on June 27, 2022 in Japan.

He became the chief assistant to Eiji Tsuburaya, the Director of Special Techniques (Special Effects) at the Toho Company. They were best known internationally for their work on a series of science fiction spectacles produced at Toho.

With the death of Eiji Tsuburaya in January 1970, Nakano was the obvious choice to succeed him as the head of Toho's Department of Special Techniques (Special Effects).

[on Jun Fukuda] I think sometimes the greatest movies we make are ones we don't necessarily like. Whether or not we like something has nothing to do with making a great movie.

[on Haruo Nakajima] Inside the Godzilla suit, it was very dark, lonely, and isolated. Usually the person who wears the suit becomes nervous and anxious. During summertime it's very hot, it can become hell in there. But Mr. Nakajima always persevered. He acted in the suit underwater, he was buried underground, he withstood pyrotechnic explosions... and through it all he was always Godzilla.

Even if I had the federal government budget, there would always be something I could not accomplish. There are certain things that are just impossible. I don't think a bigger budget automatically means a better movie. It depends on the director's creativity. I would prefer a big budget in my imagination.

If you look at the eras of Godzilla history, there is the period of Mr. Tsuburaya, the period of Mr. Arikawa, my era, and afterwards. I think mine was the toughest period of all time in Godzilla history