Monday, November 8, 2010

A screenshot from Space Battleship Yamato

Japanese anime and film producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki has died at the age of 75 after he fell out of a boat just off the Ogasawara Islands. He had been preparing to swim. The coastguard recovered his body after 20 minutes but he died two hours later. Nishizaki was best known for his work on the series Space Battleship Yamato.

Nishizaki co-created Space Battleship Yamato with Leiji Matsumoto. The pair later fell out after a dispute over franchise rights. The argument also involved the Tohoku-shinsha Film Corp.

Nishizaki's career was sometimes controversial; in the 1990s he was placed on bail after he was caught with multiple illegal substances. It has been alleged that he smuggled arms including an assault rifle and grenade launcher from the Philippines whilst bailed. In 1999 he was again arrested, this time for drug and firearms charges. He later handed over his weapons to the police.

Eight people are currently being questioned over the circumstances of Nishizaki's death.





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