Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese director and producer (b. 1901)
Eiji Tsuburaya (Japanese: 円谷 英二, Hepburn: Tsuburaya Eiji, July 7, 1901 – January 25, 1970) was a Japanese special effects director. Known as the "Father of Tokusatsu", he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the Godzilla series, as well as the main creator of the Ultra series. During his rise to post-war fame in the wake of Godzilla (1954), it was widely reported that Tsuburaya was born on July 7, which is the high day of Tanabata (star festival), a sign of good fortune.