Tohru Hirayama was a Japanese television producer and a seminal figure in the creation of tokusatsu, the genre of live-action superhero special effects shows. He is best known as the longtime producer for the Kamen Rider series and as an original creator for several iconic works in partnership with manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. Hirayama joined the production company Toei in 1954 and rose to become a key creative producer within the company. His most significant professional relationship was with Ishinomori, and he was instrumental in bringing the original Kamen Rider series to television in 1971 after years of development. Early plans to adapt Ishinomori's manga The Skull Man were rejected for being too violent, leading the pair to rework the concept into the grasshopper-themed cyborg hero that became a cultural landmark.

Hirayama is directly credited as an original creator for several notable tokusatsu productions, including the anime and live-action series Android Kikaider, the sequel series Android Kikaider 01, and the television series Kamen Rider Stronger. As a producer, he worked on many of the Kamen Rider shows throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including Kamen Rider V3, Kamen Rider X, Kamen Rider Amazon, and Kamen Rider Skyrider. He also produced the film Flying at Ya', Android Kikaider. His role often extended beyond standard production duties into direct creative development, where he worked on original plots and character settings from the planning stage.

Tohru Hirayama is also recognized for creating the pseudonym Saburo Yatsude, a collective pen name used for credit on numerous tokusatsu series, including those in the Super Sentai franchise. This name was used by Hirayama and later other producers as a stand-in for the production staff as a whole. He continued to work on the Kamen Rider franchise into the 1980s, with his last project being the 1984 television special Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together!!, which focused on Kamen Rider ZX. Tohru Hirayama passed away on July 31, 2013, due to heart failure at the age of 84. His legacy is that of a foundational producer who, alongside Shotaro Ishinomori, helped define the modern Japanese superhero genre for a generation.