Shinichi Ichikawa(pictured on left), a scriptwriter for several Ultraman productions and other popular live-action television series, passed away on Saturday, December 10 at 4:43 a.m. due to lung cancer, Sanspo reported. He was 70 years old.

After making his debut in the live-action special-effects programme Monster Booska in 1966, then he went onto write for Ultra Seven, The Return of Ultraman, Ultraman Ace and many other live-action series.

Ichikawa had penned several masterpieces in his career and just received the Order of the Rising Sun for his lifework last month. He won a Japan Academy Prize for the 1988 film Ijin-tachi to no Natsu (The Discarnates). The live-action television special based on his Chōchō-san novel just aired last month with Aoi Miyazaki as the title character. It’s reported that he didn’t tell any of the staff at NHK about his condition and they were quite shocked to hear the news. After the press conference(of the Chōchō-san novel adaptation), he was going to use all of his energy to fight the cancer and aim for a comeback. Unfortunately his wish didn’t come true.