Meet the God of Clouds

7.7.2021

Today is Tokusatsu Day (特撮の日)! July 7th is the day Master Eiji Tsuburaya, the Father of Tokusatsu was born. Today he would be 120 years old. Tsuburaya brought Godzilla to life on the big screen for Toho Co. Ltd. and Ultraman to life on the television screen for his company Tsuburaya Productions. While our attention is focused on our favorite kaiju and heroes, we often take for granted the immaculate highly-detailed sets and scenes created by the myriad of talented staff. And even more taken for granted and under-appreciated is the backgrounds because they are so flawless and realistic. These paintings are so realistic and well done our minds ignore them and treat them as real. The man behind the clouds is Fuchimu Shimakura, whose most notable work is often considered to be Mt. Fuji in Destroy All Monsters (1968). Meet the God of Clouds.

Fuchimu Shimakura (島倉二千六, しまくら ふちむ; he also goes by the name Hitoshi Shimakura (島倉仁)) was born in October 5, 1940 in the Niigata Prefecture, located on the west coast of Japan’s Honshu Island. He was the youngest of nine children. Shimakura was a talented artist from a young age and destined to become a leading figure in background paintings. His work was so convincing that his nickname was「雲の神様」”God of Clouds.” In junior high school, he was a member of a woodblock print club. He was awarded the Minister of Education Award and the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Award. After graduating he worked in a sign shop. Later, he moved to Tokyo and became a member of the background staff at the Central Film Studio. Shimakura has been involved in background art since the 1958 movie『怒りの孤島』”Angry Island.” In 1959, Shimakura was invited by Masami Sueyasu to the Toho Special Technology Division (東宝特殊技術課) led by Eiji Tsuburaya. There he began painting backgrounds for their special effects movies which included the Godzilla series, war movies, and the tv series Ultra Q (1966). And the rest is history.

Shimakura left Toho in 1980 and continued working as a freelancer working on backgrounds for movies, special effects TV programs, commercials, and more for more than 60 years. In 1982, he launched “Atelier Cloud” to train others. In 1992, he received the Japan Academy Prize (日本アカデミ一賞協会特別賞) and in 2015, the Japan Academy Prize for Manufacturing-Prime Minister’s Award (日本大賞-内閣総理大臣賞). Shimakura has exhibited his original paintings and prints in various places. I would argue Shimakura backgrounds are silent characters whose presence set the stage for Godzilla, Ultraman and more. It is said that he knows that the sky and clouds he draws move people’s hearts.

His work includes: Battle in Outer Space (1959), The Secret of the Telegian (1960), The Human Vapor (1960), Mothra (1961), The Last War (1961), Gorath (1962), King Kong vs Godzilla (1962), Matango (1963), Atragon (1963), Mothra vs Godzilla (1964), Dogora (1964), Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964), Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965), Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965), The War of the Gargantuas (1966), Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966), King Kong Escapes (1967), Son of Godzilla (1967), Destroy All Monsters (1968), Latitude Zero (1969), Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion (1996), Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers (2008), The God of Clay (2011), Ultraman Ginga S The Movie (2015), Ultraman X The Movie (2016), Howl from Beyond the Fog (2019), and Ultra tv series backgrounds. Shimakura’s work has fascinated masters such as Eiji Tsuburaya and Akira Kurosawa.

In March, Hobby Japan published “Special Effects Sky: Shimakura Fuchimu, the World of Background Fainting”「特撮の空 島倉二千六、背景画の世界」(JP oversized, 191 pages, over 200 photos), his first autobiography and photo book. Pick up your copy, you won’t be disappointed.

Sources: 特撮の空 島倉二千六、背景画の世界, Wikipedia, Wikizilla, 雲の神様　島倉二千六（上）「特撮の空」描き続け