Takeshi Kimura

February 4, 1911 – May 3, 1987

Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Kaoru Mabuchi (馬淵 薫 Mabuchi Kaoru), known by the pen name Takeshi Kimura (木村 武 Kimura Takeshi), was a Japanese screenwriter who wrote many of Toho's non-Godzilla tokusatsu films during the Showa era. Unlike his contemporary Shinichi Sekizawa, whose screenplays were noted for their lighthearted and "fun" tone, Mabuchi's screenplays were comparatively more gloomy and contained more political themes. Mabuchi considered his screenplay for Ishiro Honda's Matango to be his best work, and was considerably less enthusiastic about his later work. Kimura passed away on May 3, 1987, due to a throat obstruction. Wrote screenplays under his birth name Kaoru Mabuchi as well as under his pen name, Takeshi Kimura.