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.
To commemorate a newly-recorded re-release of Kentaro Haneda’s Yamato Grand Symphony, the Japanese website Real Sound interviewed Conductor Naoto Otomo, who was intimately involved in its production since it was composed in 1984. Here he describes the conditions for its creation and its evolution since then.
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.
In terms of Yamato music collecting, this was the single biggest release of 2015, a triple-disc treasure trove that followed in the wake of the 30-CD Sound Almanac series. It may be hard to imagine that anything had been left out, but the well goes deeper than everyone thought, including those who worked on it.
A complete record of Yamato publishing through present day. After the production years ended, many new categories of books put the saga into historical context while others pushed it forward with new interpretations. See this massive library all in one place with links to translated content and rare artifacts. [7 pages]
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!
Starting in July 2012, Columbia Japan provided a great gift to fans both new and old with this newly-remastered and upgraded reissue of the Yamato music catalog. Here we examine the second half of this monumental series with extensive liner notes, historical trivia, track listings, and more.
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.
Yoshinobu Nishizaki, Executive Producer and Creator of Space Battleship Yamato, died on November 7, 2010, by accidental drowning. The best that can be said about it was that, like the man himself, it was extremely unusual. Find out more about his remarkable life and read the final message from the producer here.
Writers around the world have exhausted entire vocabularies trying to describe his unique vision, his incredible range, and his bottomless supply of creative energy. So in the end, there’s only one way to sum up Leiji Matsumoto: he’s a true original.
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]
In 1999, a book was published titled the Space Battleship Yamato Legacy. It covered Series 1, ending with an insightful interview with the one and only singer Mr. Isao Sasaki. In it, the legendary “Voice of Yamato” shared his privileged viewpoint of the experience.
