Countless young artists were inspired by Yamato in their youth, but only a few rose to the ranks of those who would keep it alive as adults. Masahiko Okura is one of them, having contributed from 1983 to the present day, and as you’ll see in this interview, he hasn’t lost an ounce of passion in all that time.
The extraordinarily rare August 1994 issue of the locally-based LB Nakasu Communication magazine carried a Yamato cover story shortly before the saga was revived the first time with Yamato 2520 and the promise of Yamato Resurrection. Here we present two of the articles from that issue.
Just before Yamato reached its 20th anniversary in 1994, LB Nakasu Communication magazine published a rare cover story on its impending comeback. Its main feature article was this capsule history of Yamato‘s impact on Japan.
Focus, a weekly gossip magazine published by Shinchosha, was a celebrity-and-scandal chaser that kept tabs on cultural turmoil. Yoshinobu Nishizaki wasn’t high on their list of targets, but they tagged him on at least two separate occasions. In the interest of complete record-keeping, here are both of their articles.
It is a little-known fact that Yamato 2199 Director Yutaka Izubuchi got his start very early when he participated in both Yamato III and Final Yamato as a fresh-faced newcomer. Here, he discusses his earliest experiences as both a fan and a staff member.
This magazine, aimed at the pocket of Japanese culture that was born in 1965, has featured many a thoughtful essay on Yamato. Here we present two from 2018 that focus on the “lost future” aspect of Series 1 and the life-changing emotional impact of Farewell and Series 2.
Ryusuke Hikawa, the original Yamato superfan, is a prominent voice in SF/anime fandom in Japan. This interview with him was published Showa 40 Man magazine Vol. 41 (Crete Publishing, January 2017) and places Yamato’s rise into a context seldom seen elsewhere.
Kazutaka Miyatake is a man of few words, but his pen speaks volumes. As the primary mecha designer of Series 1 and Farewell to Yamato, his work has dazzled us and set an industry standard for over 40 years. He reveals much in this interview with Showa 40 Man magazine, including the design genesis of the Comet Empire itself.
Before Space Battleship Yamato, there was New Battleship Yamato, conceived by the prolific author Ikki Kajiwara and published as both a novella and a manga in the early 60s. Then it vanished into history…until the summer of 2016 when it was revived to fly again. What kind of Yamato flew first? Find out here. (2 pages)
Journalist Hiroyuki Ota takes a broad perspective, sharing his own views as a fan and discussing how Yamato affected different generations as social philosophies evolved in the wake of World War II. It’s a unique, passionate look at the saga that could only come from the land of its origin.
From the depths of forgotten history comes this exclusive look at a Space Battleship Yamato anime series that never came to be. Through a series of never-before-published development documents, witness the creation of an entirely different story set 20 years after the original saga!
In the early 90s, an attempt to bring Yamato back to anime did not succeed. A dark period of bankruptcy and lawsuits followed, about which very little hard information is available – which makes this 1998 article from Comicbox magazine extremely valuable, giving us a rare look into a unique chapter of Yamato history.
Issue 17 of 1965 Man magazine was published on January 11, 2013 with a cover guaranteed to grab the attention of Yamato fans. Presented here are two articles that examine the impact of Space Battleship Yamato Series 1 on the 1965 Man — and pretty much everyone else who saw it at an impressionable age. [2 pages]
Since its debut, Space Battleship Yamato has come to fill essentially the same niche in Japan as Star Trek in the English-speaking world. legions of anime artists credit Yamato for their career choice, and many of them pay their respects in their own work. Here are some of them for your entertainment.
The name alone catches your eye: an entirely separate side-story to the Yamato saga with Dessler [Desslok] center stage. Unfortunately, it never got past the written word. Fortunately, that written record still exists. Here you can track the rise and fall of the Greatest Yamato Story Never Told.
As a pure concept, there was absolutely nothing wrong with 2520, but it turned out to be a sequel in the worst way. But we can examine it on its own merits and see what it had to offer. Would it have won our hearts if its full story had been told, or was it justifiably put out of its misery? Let’s see if we can find out. [2 pages]
This interview captures Leiji Matsumoto in buoyant spirits as he finds himself in an upwardly-mobile career swing after a comparatively quiet period in the late 80s and early 90s. He talks enthusiastically about his time on the first Yamato series and expands on his ideas for a new story.
A 25th anniversary Yamato LD series was reelased in 1998. They included a serialized essay by Matsumoto about his Yamato experiences. This contained the first announcement of his intention to create a new story and his ambitious plans for the next 25 years. The entire essay is presented here.
Despite his position at the time of copyright holder for Yamato, Matsumoto was unusually strident in this interview about the nature of his role on the first TV series and makes several claims not seen elsewhere. This interview captures an interesting snapshot-in-time when the situation was still in contention.
Long before the resurrection begain in 2009, Leiji Matsumoto made his own attempt to bring Yamato back to life as part of a grand plan to unify all of his creations. Its title Shin [New] Space Battleship Yamato, but the secondary English name did a better job of setting it apart: Space Battleship Great Yamato.
Unable to complete his ambitious plans for Great Yamato, Leiji Matsumoto immediately transformed it into a bigger project. What made Dai Yamato different is that it didn’t start out as a manga. It would go straight to animation…by way of your local pachinko parlor.
Translated from Matsumoto’s autobiography, The Far Place Where the Ring of Time is Linked. The book culminates with a chapter devoted to Space Battleship Yamato and his second most famous production, Galaxy Express 999. Here is the Yamato portion, which contains the explanation for the book’s unusual title.
Events of the Legacy Years, 1984-2007
As of 1984, the Yamato saga was now in the past tense, but the sheer momentum of the production years guaranteed a lively future of public events that kept the passion fed…
Events of the Legacy Years, 2008-2010
The resurrection of Yamato began in 2009, accompanied by a landslide of public events that brought back the spirit of the original production years. This record reviews them all, culminating with the 2010 live-action movie.
Events of the Legacy Years, 2011-present
Fully back in the public eye after the 2009 resurrection, Yamato achieved the status of living legend as the new films circled the globe and yet another new production loomed over the horizon. See the continuing record of public events here.
Ryusuke Hikawa wrote this column to examine the subtleties of anime. His topic in the April 1999 issue was a complex one indeed: the interplay of thoughts and images as delineated by a single frame of film. It gave him an opportunity to examine various aspects using the evolution of Yamato as an example.
A conversation with three people who took part in Yamato production: Sound Effects Producer Mitsuru Kashiwabara, Sound & Music Producer Mitsuhiro Koyama, and Assistant Producer Shinji Iwamoto. Translated from the 1996 Sound Fantasia CD liner notes.
The internet bursts at the seams with Star Blazers and Space Battleship Yamato content. If you’ve backed away in terror at the sheer magnitude of it all, this page is here to highlight some of the more noteworthy artifacts that have emerged on YouTube, either directly related to Yamato or inspired by it.
The six participants in this 1993 interview discussed their experiences from the early years and their work on the forthcoming Yamato 2520, which at the time was simply referred to as New Yamato. The fact that 2520 would not work out as planned makes this a particularly interesting read.
A once-in-a-lifetime round table discussion between three luminaries: director Leiji Matsumoto, composer Hiroshi Miyagawa, and auteur Hideaki Anno. Translated from the 1998 Railway of Fantasy concert program.
