Tadao Nagahama (長浜 忠夫, Nagahama Tadao; September 26, 1932 – November 4, 1980 in Kagoshima) was a Japanese director of anime and puppet shows. He also wrote the lyrics for the anime's theme song under the name Akira Aoi (あおい あきら, Aoi Akira). Nagahama has produced hits in a wide variety of genres, including super robot, sports, and comedy. He is best known as the director of Sunrise and Toei's Robot Romance Trilogy, which added human drama to the Super Robot genre. He is also known as the director of several popular anime series that are still well known among Japanese viewers. His most famous work is the national hit, Star of the Giants, which contributed to the popularity of baseball in Japan.
Source: “Tadao Nagahama”, English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), excerpt