The first ideas for what would eventually be "Space Battleship Yamato" began in 1973 by producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, but the project underwent a number of revisions and overhauls before settling on the final design. The team responsible for the creation of "Space Battleship Yamato" consisted of Yoshinobu Nishizaki, Keisuke Fujikawa, Eiichi Yamamoto and Aritsune Toyota. It was initially planned to be a tokusatsu, and Nishizaki was inspired to create something set in space after reading "Methuselah's Children". Aritsune Toyota offered his 1970 novel as a further source of inspiration for Nishizaki.