Biography

Sadamasa Arikawa (Arikawa Sadamasa, June 17, 1925 - September 22, 2005), also known as Teisho Arikawa (Arikawa Teishō), was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Arikawa's first film was Daiei's "The Invisible Man Appears" (1949), and he was also the cinematographer for all of the special effects scenes in Toho's Tokusatsu films from "Godzilla" (1954) to "The War of the Gargantuas" (1966). As a student of original Godzilla special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, Arikawa was promoted to director of special effects for Toho's Tokusatsu films after Tsuburaya stepped down due to health issues and work with his own company, Tsuburaya Productions. Arikawa was the special effects director for "Ebirah, Horror of the Deep" (1966), "Son of Godzilla" (1967), "Destroy all Monsters" (1968), and "Space Amoeba" (1970), as well as some episodes in Tsuburaya's television productions, like "Ultra Q" (TV 1966-1967), "Ultraman" (TV 1966-1967), and "Ultraseven" (TV 1967-1968). He would leave Toho after the production of "Space Amoeba" (1970), and was employed as director of special effects (alongside other former Toho staff) on the Hong Kong special effects monster film "The Mighty Peking Man" (1977). His final film as a special effects director and final work overall was "The Phoenix" (1978). Arikawa passed away due to lung cancer on September 22, 2005, at age 80.