Tsuburaya Productions, a Japanese tokusatsu studio best known for creating Ultraman, is losing nearly a quarter of its staff following a wave of resignations from employees, according to an investigation by Weekly Bunshun. This news comes just as the studio is set to celebrate Ultraman’s 60th anniversary with “The Origin of Ultraman,” a documentary film by Hirokazu Koreeda that explores the creation of the original series.
According to a staff member interviewed by Bunshun, at least 39 full-time employees have resigned since the start of the year, with another 13 scheduled to be seconded or transferred to different group companies. Since the entire workforce originally consisted of around 210 employees, the remaining workers are forced to pick up the slack, with the company allegedly in “complete chaos.”
This seems to be the result of “restructuring measures” at the company. From March 10 to 11, Tsuburaya Productions held one-on-one meetings with employees attended by executives and HR personnel. According to a former employee, they were pressured to choose between a secondment or transfer to another group company, or “early resignation on favorable terms.” Following these meetings, a significant number of employees chose to leave the company.
Weekly Bunshun asked Tsuburaya Productions and its parent company, Tsuburaya Fields Holdings, about the wave of resignations, but has yet to receive an official statement on the matter.
