James Bond in film not to produce any other films based on the "Thunderball" story for a period of ten years following the release of the Eon-produced version in 1965. After the interruption of McClory as producer, Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman returned to produce once again. The first four Bond films had been popular in Japan, and Eon decided to take advantage of the market by producing "You Only Live Twice". The film included progressive elements of Japanese culture as part of the background. Lewis Gilbert was appointed director and Ken Adam returned as production designer; Adam built a volcano hideaway set for
You Only Live Twice (novel) Sunday Times" in 1959, although his visit only lasted for three days. He returned in 1962 and was accompanied on his trip round the country by Australian friend Richard Hughes and Tiger Saito, both journalists. In "You Only Live Twice", these two characters became Dikko Henderson and Tiger Tanaka, respectively. Hughes was also the model for "Old Craw" in John le Carré's "The Honourable Schoolboy". The novel contains a fictional obituary of Bond, purportedly published in "The Times", which provided details of Bond's early life, although many of these were Fleming's own traits. These included Bond's expulsion from Eton College,