GODZILLA AND THE COLD WAR: JAPANESE MEMORY, FEAR, AND ANXIETY IN TOHO STUDIO'S GODZILLA FRANCHISE, 1954-2016

Daniel J. Durkin III

A Thesis

Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

May 2021

Committee:

Walter Grunden, Advisor

Benjamin Greene

© 2021

Daniel J Durkin III

All Rights Reserved iii

ABSTRACT

Walter Grunden, Advisor

This thesis investigates the numerous installments of the Godzilla film franchise, created by Toho Studios from 1954 through the present day, that contributes to the overall historiography and understanding on a post-World War II Japan. This study complicates previous scholarship on these films and Japan as a whole, which asserts that these films were primarily geared towards children and rarely offer substantive socio-political messages. By examining the numerous films of this franchise, this study demonstrates not only that there were themes reflective of Japanese memory, fear, and anxiety throughout the franchise, but that these films aim to bring about changes in society as a whole. All of these films display to some degree uncomfortable memories of the Second World War and mounting fears of the Cold War, both of which many Japanese people saw their country at the mercy of. The films captured the Japanese zeitgeist and transformed these attitudes and emotions into thematic elements, openly displaying them on screen in the hopes of involving great societal change within Japan and the international sphere. Ideas such as fears of thermonuclear devastation, worry over the spread of Communism and Communist regimes, the growth of science and technology, musings over man’s place in nature and the world and many others are openly present throughout the Godzilla franchise. The efforts of the numerous filmmakers to display these ideas and invoke societal change throughout the franchise led to many national and international policy changes towards bettering Japan’s place in a growing world. As a result, the Godzilla franchise contributes to a better understanding of the Japanese zeitgeist during and after the Cold War and how the moods and emotions of a people can be openly displayed on screen. iv

For Elizabeth C. “Betsy” Beile v

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I owe a great debt to my thesis committee, Dr. Walter Grunden and Dr. Benjamin

Greene, for their tireless efforts to guide me through the research and writing process for this thesis. Their feedback and guidance has shaped my academic career at Bowling Green State

University, and their endless support allowed me to be part of the accelerated BA to MA program, for which I am eternally grateful. The opportunities that these two professors have provided me can never be fully repaid.

I would also like to thank the entire Undergraduate and Graduate staff of the BGSU

History Department that I have had the great fortune of learning with the past five years. Their invaluable assistance in aiding my research and writing has been greatly appreciated and I cannot thank the many staff members enough for their support. Additionally, I would like to thank my colleagues and fellow Historians in the Graduate program, notably Robyn Perry and Kyle Rable, for their support with my writing and their friendship.

I also owe thanks to John Ruffin, who provided me with high quality images of the final script for Gojira (1954). Without his help in acquiring these images, this project could not have been completed as it were.

Additionally, I would finally thank my parents, Cynthia and Daniel Durkin, Jr. Without their constant love and continued support, such a project as this could never have come to fruition and I would have never had the opportunity to pursue this topic. And lastly, although there are many friends and family that aided me in my endeavor to write this thesis, I need to give my eternal gratitude to Lily Claire Kramer for her love and patience during my writing process.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

INTRODUCTION…...... 1

CHAPTER ONE A POSTWAR MONSTER: GODZILLA IN THE EARLY SHŌWA

PERIOD……………...... 13

CHAPTER TWO A COLD WAR MONSTER: GODZILLA IN THE LATE SHŌWA

PERIOD……………...... 36

CHAPTER THREE A NEW WORLD MONSTER: GODZILLA IN THE HEISEI

PERIOD……………...... 78

CHAPTER FOUR A NEW MONSTER: GODZILLA IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY101

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION ...... 131

BIBLIOGRAPHY…… ...... 137

APPENDIX A. TIMELINE OF TOHO STUDIO’S GODZILLA FRANCHISE ...... 143 vii

LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page

1 Cover of final script for Gojira (1954), Toho Studios, courtesy of personal collection of John Ruffin...... 16

2 Godzilla from the original Gojira (1954) attacking Tokyo...... 18

3 Godzilla battling the monstrous Hedorah...... 61

4 An American advertisement for Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)...... 64

5 Godzilla’s new size and appearance in the 1980s...... 76

6 A Japanese advertisement for Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995)...... 98

7 Godzilla’s new appearance in Godzilla 2000 (1999)...... 105

8 A Japanese advertisement depicting Godzilla in its final form in Shin Godzilla

(2016)...... 124 1

INTRODUCTION

Resolving the Second World War by forcing a Japanese surrender, the dropping of

atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 brought forth the Cold War era.

While still hotly debated by contemporary historians, a highly contributing factor to the use of

the atomic weapons on Japan was the desire by the United States to prevent the Soviet Union’s

interference in Japan’s surrender.1 As the Soviet Union was able to dictate Nazi Germany’s

surrender in Europe, thereby splitting the country between occupying forces, the United States

wanted to prevent this from happening in Japan. To do so, the United States detonated two

nuclear weapons over Japan, the first in Hiroshima on August 6 and the second in Nagasaki on

August 8, 1945. The destructive power of the bomb brought the capitulation of Imperial Japan

and an end to the Second World War.2

Despite the use of such a powerful weapon against Japan, the US formulated much of its

foreign policy in Asia after World War II on a partnership with its former enemy. This was done

to encourage free trade and enterprise in the previously authoritarian state and to discourage the

spread of Soviet influence. Although the US government maneuvered to prevent the spread of

communism throughout the postwar world, China fell to the communist forces of Mao Zedong in

1949. In an effort to rebuild the war-shattered Japanese economy and maintain a stable presence

in East Asia, the US invested heavily in economic aid and recovery. The nation that brought

about Japan’s ascent into the modern age beginning in 1853 found itself again assisting a similar

ascent into a postwar boom.3

1 Matthew Jones, After Hiroshima: The United States, Race, and Nuclear Weapons in Asia, 1945-1965 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010), 23. 2 Andrew J. Rotter, Hiroshima: The World’s Bomb (Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2008), 206-207. 3 John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999), 19-22. 2

Often called Japan’s “American Interlude,” the occupation of the nation by its previous enemy and subsequent benefactor led to economic growth. This, however, was not without criticism from the Japanese people.4 The American occupation brought with it a clash of cultures and customs, and there occurred numerous tragic and violent incidents perpetrated by US service personnel. Accused of assault, theft, rape, and many other crimes, American servicemen were tried in courts martial and by their own government, not by local courts.5 This angered many

Japanese people, who were frustrated at such a mismanagement of justice and judgement.

Furthermore, these crimes often went unreported in Japanese and American newspapers and were buried under rules of censorship enforced in Japan by the occupier. Desiring the ability to govern themselves and break free of this occupying force, many Japanese looked towards the

Americans with contempt. To combat this, future Secretary of State John Foster Dulles began to draft a peace treaty that allowed Japan to achieve democratic self-governance, while still maintaining the beneficial alliance that both nations desired.6 The treaty, which emancipated

Japan from American control and allowed trade and military access to occur between the two, was enacted in 1951, restoring sovereignty to Japan and also allowing America to focus on the war in Korea.7 However, a lack of trust within Japan towards the United States had already taken root, despite the economic and military security a relationship with the Western power brought.

Shaking off the burden of a past aggressor occupying their home, the Japanese were able to rebuild and reinvigorate their nation, unrestrained by the censorship and restrictions the

Americans imposed upon them.8 The American influences still remained, however, and much of

4 Ibid., 24. 5 Ibid., 211. 6 Jones, 117. 7 Ibid., 117-118. 8 Dower, 405. 3

Japanese art and music echoed with voices from the West, particularly in film and literature.

Japanese science fiction, for example, drew heavily upon American influences that contemplated

the implications of nuclear war, a topic with which Japan was too familiar. American writers,

concerned with the growing nuclear power in the Soviet Union, focused on the fears and ideas

surrounding nuclear weapons at the time. Bestselling science-fiction author Philp Wylie wrote on

the dangers associated with growing nuclear arsenals and impending nuclear war, stating, “[w]e

live in a midnight imposed by fear - a time like all dark ages.”9 Knowing what nuclear war might

bring to the world, Wylie examined the possibility of nuclear weapons being used to attack the

United States and the West within his writing.

Cold War fears and anxieties are similarly reflected in the films of the era. The advances

in science and technology that appeared at this time are presented as dangerous and

unpredictable, often directly causing the problems that the protagonists must face. Science itself

is portrayed as a dangerous undertaking, one that poses destruction to man if not undertaken

safely and morally.10 This trepidation present in American science fiction also exists within

Japanese science fiction of the same age, with many of the fears involving nuclear weapons

having a strong, personal appeal. Most notably, Toho Studio’s Godzilla franchise relies heavily

on fears grounded in the Japanese zeitgeist of the day. In these films, the morality of science is at

a crossroads between the morally sound, humane use of science and the dangerous, immoral use

of destructive and dangerous science. Not only does the interplay between these two reveal itself

in the dialogue of many Japanese science fiction films during the Cold War, but it is also

personified by many of the characters and antagonists present in the films as well.11 Creatures

9 David Seed, American Science Fiction and the Cold War, (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999), 15. 10 Susan Sontag, “The Imagination of Disaster,” in Hikabusha Cinema: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Nuclear Image in Japanese Film ed. Mick Broderick (New York: Keegan Paul International, 1996), 44. 11 Ibid., 44-45. 4

like Rodan and Ghidrah, who toppled Japan’s many cities throughout multiple movies, were

direct personifications of the fears associated with the Cold War. Monsters that used radioactive

abilities to spew flame from their mouths were intended to represent the blast and subsequent fire

associated with the detonation of a nuclear warhead. However, there is no monster from the

modern era that can compare to the awesome destruction wrought forth by Toho’s celebrity

creature, Godzilla. By creating this beast, Toho made a direct connection from bomb to pen to

film. Thus, this thesis argues that the films making up Toho’s Godzilla franchise contain many

themes and messages inspired by Japanese memory, fear, and anxieties regarding historical

events and periods of their concurrent times.

American science fiction literature and film played upon the fears of American citizens

towards the Soviet Union as a potentially aggressive nuclear power. This fear became a popular

subject of media and entertainment during the Cold War. With a lack of intelligence regarding

the nuclear armament that the Soviet Union possessed, many believed that it had equaled or

surpassed the nuclear capabilities of the United States. This led to a foreign policy centered on

the containment of the Soviet Union, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), as well

as new concerns over nuclear proliferation. Furthermore, fears of accidental nuclear detonations

or the repercussions of nuclear testing also played on the minds of Americans and most of the

world as well. When the United States detonated its first hydrogen bomb in 1952, and with the

Soviet Union doing the same only a year later, an escalation of nuclear anxiety within America

took hold.12 This anxiety brought with it the fear of impending nuclear doom arriving at the

doorstep of the West at any given time, no matter how slight the provocation. The world held its

12 Martha Smith-Norris, “‘Only as Dust in the Face of the Wind’: An Analysis of the BRAVO Nuclear Incident in the Pacific, 1954,” The Journal of American-East Asian Relations 6, no.1 (Spring 1997): 4, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23612829. 5

breath throughout the duration of the Cold War, suspended in an uncomfortable state of

Purgatory on the precipice of nuclear hell.

With the rise of nuclear capabilities from the United States and other powers across the

globe, monster movies dealing with the prospects of nuclear accidents entered into mainstream

media with the onset of the Cold War.13 With movies featuring unstoppable monsters already

having become rooted into the American movie-going experience, nuclear weapons brought

forth a new beast, one scarred and mutated by radioactive fallout. These films dealt with the

unknown surrounding nuclear weapons, particularly their effects on nature and humans.

American films like Warner Brothers’ The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and Them! (1954)

explored these effects in startling relative realism, with nuclear monsters running amok in

popular American cities and destroying well-known landmarks.14 These films personified and occupied the fears of nuclear weapons that had already been present in audiences.

Having roots in European literary works of science fiction published in the nineteenth-

and twentieth-centuries, such as Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (1867),

American science fiction films often dealt with the concept of a lost world or ancient animals lost to time in a modern age.15 Stories of an ancient beast attacking modern cities and countries also

provided thematic influences on science fiction films during the Cold War, particularly Arthur

Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World (1912). These stories focused on the unknowns of science

and the world, much like the nuclear monster films of the Cold War. The thematic message of

the unknown dealt with science and nature, but also of the unknown workings of the mind, as

13 Chon A. Noriega, “Godzilla and the Japanese Nightmare: When Them! Is U.S.,” in Hibakusha Cinema: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Nuclear Image in Japanese Film, ed. Mick Broderick (New York: Keegan Paul International, 1996), 55-56. 14 Ibid., 59. 15 Allen A. Debus, Dinosaurs in Fantastic Fiction: A Thematic Survey (Jefferson: McFarland, 2006), 17-18. 6

well as the role man played in the environment and nature. Adapted into film from Delos W.

Lovelace’s 1932 novel of the same name, King Kong (1933) played heavily on the theme of the

primal unknown within nature and within man.16 Involving a crew that stumbles upon an ancient

island full of dinosaurs and ancient monsters, the film tells the story of a land lost to time and the

vulnerabilities of modern man in such an environment. With most of the crew having been killed by the prehistoric denizens of the island, a movie producer attempts to smuggle a giant ape named Kong back to New York City. In the process of the ape being exhibited on a Broadway stage, the beast breaks free and runs amok in Manhattan before finally being killed by the technology of modern man.17 The film explores the intersection of technology and man in nature

and his changing position in the world.18

To connect the films of the Godzilla franchise to their historical connections and

inspirations, this thesis relies on several threads of historiography and scholarship concerning

Japan during the twentieth century. The historiography of the Cold War is complicated and

extensive. Many Historians have contributed to the historical scholarship on the Cold War, with

the beginning and end of the period being a major point of contention. Additionally, the vast

number of articles, monographs, and papers on the Cold War has allowed for varying

interpretations on what the Cold War meant to different nations. In order to establish sufficient

background and analyze the events of the Cold War that inspired many of the themes within the

Godzilla franchise, this work draws heavily on Richard H. Immerman and Petra Goedde’s The

Oxford Handbook of the Cold War (2013).19 This anthology provides varying interpretations by

16 Ibid., 53. 17 King Kong, directed by Merin C Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack (RKO Pictures, 1933), videocassette. 18 Debus, 53. 19 Richard H. Immerman, and Petra Goedde, eds., The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013). 7

multiple historians on the Cold War, from its inception following World War II to its end in the

1990s and beyond. This work also offers several key perspectives on the Cold War from different regions, such as how the Cold War was viewed in the United States, the Soviet Union,

Japan, and many others. Additional background on Japan itself is provided by Andrew Gordon’s

A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present (2009) to detail the history of

Japan following the Second World War through contemporary times.20 This is coupled with John

Dower’s seminal Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (1999) that explores the

state of Japan shortly after the Second World War and the many factors that enabled its rapid

development.21 These, along with many other secondary source materials, discuss Japan during

the times in which the many installments of the Godzilla franchise were released, allowing for

further discussion of how events and mentalities infiltrated the many scenes and ideas within

them.

Additionally, this work accompanies an existing historiography on both science-fiction as

a whole during the Cold War, as well as the Godzilla franchise itself. Notably, works like

William Tsutsui’s Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters (2004) and David

Kalat’s A Critical History and Historiography of Toho’s Godzilla Series (1997) are referenced as

these are the best existing works in the very limited scholarship on the Godzilla franchise.22

Although these works identify a handful of important and salient themes and messages within the

films, they often stop short of connecting these themes to the films’ concurrent issues and the

Japanese zeitgeist of the period more broadly. They rightly identify that the monster Godzilla is a

20 Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, 2nd edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). 21 Dower. 22 William Tsutsui, Godzilla on my Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004); David Kalat, A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series (London: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1997). 8

metaphor for the atomic bomb and that there are other themes that appear throughout the

franchise, but they stop short of identifying many other important ideas represented within these

films. In Godzilla on My Mind, Tsutsui states that the main reason for the continuation of the

Godzilla franchise was primarily for revenue, but he does not identify or explore other possible

motivations.23 Whereas many film scholars and historians identify how similar American science

fiction films connect to the sentiments and fears of the American people at the time, such as

David Seed in his American Science Fiction and the Cold War (1999), there has been too little

exploration and analysis of the extensive Godzilla franchise and how it similarly illustrates the

Cold War anxieties and fears of the people of Japan over time.24 More often, scholars have focused on the now familiar themes regarding Japanese fears of nuclear weapons – the Japanese

“nuclear allergy” – and most only examine the original Gojira (1954) as containing such messages. The rest of the franchise, which continues to be produced by Toho Studios and has a large international audience, is often overlooked or not given due consideration in the scholarship of Godzilla. The present thesis argues that the Godzilla franchise offers much more than the familiar nuclear fear allegories and that salient themes of environmental pollution, science and technology run amok, militarism, and the existential threat of global climate change

– all inspired by their concurrent times – are also addressed in these films.

The scholarship of Godzilla thus far tends to take as its point of departure how the

Godzilla franchise was inspired by the many American science-fiction and monster films of the

1950s, such as the aforementioned Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, among others. Scholars such as

Margot A. Henriksen, for example, in her work Dr. Strangelove’s America: Society and Culture

23 Tsutsui, 48. 24 Seed. 9

in the Atomic Age (1997), compare the Godzilla franchise to these American counterparts.25

Although perhaps a minor point, some scholars even misidentify the release date of the original

Gojira as 1956, when this is actually the date of the American version titled Godzilla, King of the

Monsters! Certainly, if these Japanese films were inspired by their American counterparts, they

would contain similar, if not the same, messages. This thesis attempts to challenge and

complicate these existing interpretations by ascribing greater agency to these films by explicating

how they contain many more themes than have been explored thus far.

Among the many themes ignored or scarcely addressed in the scholarship of the Godzilla

franchise are: the trauma of World War II beyond the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and

Nagasaki, the challenges of economic development in postwar Japan, fears of nuclear

proliferation and war, critiques of the misuse of science and technology and the social

responsibility of scientists, musings on man’s place in nature, anti-American and anti-militarist

sentiments, and the repositioning of Japan in the geopolitical sphere of East Asia with the rise of

China as a world power. But how does an exploration of these themes and messages add to what

is already known about the franchise, and what does their inclusion in these films reveal to us

about postwar Japan? Also, given the target demographic of these films, namely adolescent boys

and girls, can we ascribe a deliberate didactic intent among their directors and producers to raise

awareness among the youth of Japan of these very serious issues in an age appropriate yet

entertaining way?

The present thesis focuses on the films themselves as the central primary sources. Due to

the COVID-19 pandemic, access to archival information was limited. Other primary and

secondary sources utilized were found almost exclusively within the Bowling Green State

25 Margot A. Henriksen, Dr. Strangelove’s America: Society and Culture in the Atomic Age (Berkeley: University of California, 1997), 58. 10

University library and the Ohio-Link network. Several government documents, such as the

Foreign Relations of the United States 1952-1954, were utilized to detail how American and

Japanese relations influenced the films of the Godzilla franchise.26 Additionally, publicly

accessible interviews with some of the film makers, such as Ishirō Honda, who directed the

original Gojira (1954) film, were used as well. While a final script for the original Gojira film

was located and provided courtesy of the private collection of John Ruffin, primary source

documents directly related to these films were otherwise sparse. As such, the sources used herein

are necessarily selective, which rendered some conclusions offered here as being more

suggestive than definitive.

The thesis is divided into four main chapters that explore the various messages and

themes introduced in the films. The first chapter investigates the early Shōwa series of films,

which were created between 1954 and 1956. This period, though brief, constitutes the first four

films of the Godzilla franchise and how the themes of these films concerned a postwar Japan. As

these films were all produced shortly after the conclusion of the Second World War, this chapter

argues that they attempt to address the trauma of World War II and the many challenges of

Japan’s postwar recovery, from what John Dower has characterized as “exhaustion and despair”

to the rise of a thriving middle class, all of which is little explored in the existing scholarship.

The second chapter examines the remainder of the Shōwa period films, which were

produced through 1975. Having been produced in the midst of the Cold War, this chapter argues

that these films draw upon significant events of that time and address Cold War themes

throughout. For example, these films often reference US nuclear tests and the growing hostilities

between the United States and Soviet Union, framing the monsters as personifications of these

26 U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States 1952-1954, Vol. XIV: China and Japan, Part 2 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1985). 11 nations and the tensions between them. This chapter also reaffirms what was argued in the previous chapter, that the ideas and messages portrayed in the Shōwa series were distinctly derived from their concurrent times and the Japanese zeitgeist, rather than their releases being solely for marketing and revenue purposes.

Chapter three continues this trend by investigating the Heisei series of films, which were produced from 1984-1995, and how they were impacted by the late Cold War. The ending of the

Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union had profound effects on the international sphere and directly influenced the placement of many of the themes found within this series of films.

Ideas such as détente and nuclear brinkmanship were commonly known throughout the world at this time and greatly inspired many images within these films. Additionally, this chapter argues that the end of the Cold War did not bring about an end to fears and anxieties concerning nuclear war, rather that this new world devoid of a Soviet Union was just as unpredictable as the one with the former Communist power.

The fourth and final chapter largely builds upon many of the same themes and messages of the Heisei series and how they remained within the latest Shinsei series of films, which were produced from 1999-2004. Much as the end of the Cold War brought about great confusion and anxieties within the international community, so too did the coming millennium. This chapter also explores the latest live-action installment, titled Shin Godzilla (2016), which is the least investigated film in the entire franchise due to its relatively recent release date. Together, these films explore Japan’s ever-present “nuclear allergy,” the idea that the nation is predisposed to nuclear calamities through today.

Through an analysis of each individual film, scholarly works, and events during and after the Cold War, this thesis argues that the films of the Godzilla franchise contain themes inspired 12 by their concurrent times and historical occurrences. It adds to existing scholarship on these films and modern Japan by stating that these films serve as a gateway into the Japanese zeitgeist and allude to the many changes that the country was experiencing during and after the Cold War.

This thesis also challenges existing scholarship by arguing that these films are not merely children’s matinee features, but that they actually do contain salient themes and messages that highlight a changing Japan, rather than simply being a means for Toho Studios to exploit the monster genre for ticket sales. In doing so, this thesis adds to the existing scholarship on these films and modern Japan by arguing that they contain many themes and messages from historical events and periods of their concurrent times. 13

CHAPTER ONE A POSTWAR MONSTER: GODZILLA IN THE EARLY SHŌWA PERIOD

The Godzilla films created during the Shōwa Period spanned from 1954-1975 and were the first “series” within the broader franchise and collection of films. Commonly, these films and others like them are often called kaiju eiga in Japanese, which translates to “monster films” and encompasses the broader genre of giant monsters running amok and causing massive destruction.

The term Shōwa – the ideographs of which mean “radiance and peace” – is derived from the reign of Emperor Hirohito and the Shōwa era, over which he reigned.1 This series is the most

extensive and longest set of films within the broader franchise, spanning from the original Gojira

(1954) to Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), with a film being produced nearly every year within

that span. However, it is also the most ridiculed and heavily criticized series within the entire

collection due to the consistent poor production quality and seeming lack of relevant themes in

the series’ later films. Film critics and Historians often neglect these films and their messages,

going so far as to claim that they were only created to create revenue for Toho Studios and

appeal to children.2

Because of the great length of this period in the Godzilla franchise and the volume of

films that encompass it, this chapter focuses on the early Shōwa, a period that lasted from 1954-

1956. Instead of discussing all of the film installments produced during this twenty year span,

this chapter instead focuses on the earliest films in this series. Additionally, this chapter focuses

more on the immediate postwar themes present in these films, rather than the growing Cold War,

which is discussed more in subsequent chapters. Because Japan faced many changes during and

after World War II, the Godzilla installments created immediately after the conflict highlight

1 John Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999), 322-323. 2 William Tsutsui, Godzilla on my Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 53-54. 14

these many changes. Frustrations concerning the American occupation, Japan’s postwar

economic recovery, and memories of the destruction of Japanese cities are all apparent images

within these early films. This chapter argues that in addition to themes concerning nuclear arms,

the Godzilla films of the early Shōwa period reflected the memories, fears, and anxieties of the

postwar period in Japan.

An overwhelmingly apparent theme throughout the entirety of the Godzilla film series is

fear concerning the development and use of nuclear weapons by the United States, notably

against Japan and during tests in the Pacific Ocean in the 1950s. The most notable connection is to the so-called “Lucky Dragon Incident,” where Japanese fishermen were exposed to a hydrogen bomb test. A fishing trolley gently sways in the water, waves softly lapping at the wooden sides of the vessel’s hull. Just above where the waves reach, scrawled in faded Japanese kanji, the words “Fukuryu Maru,” are written in faint red paint, denoting the name of the small, fragile craft as the Lucky Dragon No. 5. On deck, the crew are either bringing in their nets or lounging about, bathing in the warm Pacific sun as their boat sways beneath them. In the captain’s hold, a calendar denotes the date as March 1, 1954. All is calm on the ship as the crew perform their duties, unaware of a danger that awaits them nearly 85 miles away. Suddenly, several crewmembers facing the southwest declare that they have just seen an intense flash of light from that direction. The crew wait in breathless anticipation for several minutes before hearing an earth-shattering clap of a thunderous explosion. Several hours after the light and the blast stir them, the crew start to notice a strange white ash fall from the heavens, stinging their flesh invoking their fears.

The United States had just detonated a nuclear weapon, specifically the hydrogen bomb test of the Castle Bravo experiment conducted on Bikini Atoll. Though the vessel was well 15

outside the restricted zone established by the United States military, the fallout from the

weapon’s detonation still reached the twenty-three-man crew of the small craft.3 Following this

series of worrisome events, the crew decided to head back for Japan, where they were all quickly

rushed to hospitals for treatment of nausea and headaches, as well as caustic burns on their skin.

Shortly after their arrival, all twenty-three members of the crew were diagnosed with radiation

sickness, and one succumbed to illness several months later.4

Nearly a decade following the use of atomic weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima

and Nagasaki, the detonation of this 15-megaton weapon solidified further Japanese anxiety and

animosity towards the growing ability of the United States to rain death from the sky.5 With the

memory of the two cities burning still fresh in their minds, many people within Japan viewed the

indiscriminate testing of atomic weapons in the Pacific Ocean as an increase in Western

hostilities and a threat to Japan itself.6 Additionally, high levels of radiation in tuna in Japanese

fish markets brought a high level of panic, with many people worrying that continued testing

would pose a severe environmental crisis and deprive Japan of a major food source.7 However,

despite Bravo being the largest thermonuclear detonation by the US, it was certainly not the first.

The first detonation of a thermonuclear weapon, codenamed Mike and part of Operation Ivy, was

conducted on October 31, 1952 at Eniwetok Atoll, nearly a year and a half before the Bravo test

3 Martha Smith-Norris, “’Only as Dust in the Face of the Wind’: An Analysis of the BRAVO Nuclear Incident in the Pacific, 1954,” The Journal of American-East Asian Relations 6, No. 1 (Spring, 1997), 1-2. 4 Matthew Jones, After Hiroshima: The United States, Race, and Nuclear Weapons in Asia, 1945-1965 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010), 183-184. While the fisherman’s death was tragic, there still remains conjecture over the actual cause of his death. Japanese doctors concluded that the death of the crewmember was linked directly to radiation sickness, but this was heavily disputed at the time. American doctors and scientists were almost completely excluded from examining the crewmembers, but concluded that the actual cause of death was from hepatitis, not radiation. 5 Robert A. Divine, Blowing on the Wind: The Nuclear Test Ban Debate, 1954-1960 (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1978), 25. 6 Jones, 228-229. 7 Roger Dingman, “Alliance in Crisis: The Lucky Dragon Incident and Japanese-American Relations,” in The Great Powers in East Asia:1953-1960, edited by Warren I. Cohen and Akira Iriye (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), 194. 16 was conducted.8 Coupled with fresh memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this environmental panic caused by nuclear weapons testing raised the ire of many Japanese people, causing a great deal of disdain and blame against the US. Rising up from this boiling sea of fear and anger over

US nuclear tests in the Pacific, the film Gojira, a creation of the Japanese film company Toho and directed by Ishirō Honda, was released on May 27, 1954. The opening scene of the film, closely mirroring the fateful incident involving the crew of the Fukuryu Maru, showed what appeared to be the detonation of an atomic weapon near a ship dubbed the Eiko Maru, which catches fire from the explosion and sinks, killing all men on board just after an SOS beacon is sent to shore. As the motion picture continues, the mythical beast known as Godzilla rises from the depths of the ocean, leaving a path of destruction and death in its wake as it heads towards

Tokyo.9

In the film, all efforts to destroy the beast by conventional means prove folly, with artillery shells and rockets merely deflecting off the creatures tough, impenetrable hide. Tanks

Figure 1: Cover of final script for Gojira (1954), Toho Studios, courtesy of personal collection of John Ruffin. Note, red script intentionally meant to resemble blood, representing Japanese death at the hands of nuclear weapons.

8 U.S. Department of Energy, United States Nuclear Tests: July 1945 through September 1992 (Las Vegas, NV: U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office, 2015), 4. 9 Gojira, directed by Ishirō Honda (Toho, 1954), film. 17

and other vehicles prove no match against the beast, being either flattened under Godzilla’s feet

or melted by the creature’s atomic breath. In a final attempt to rid the world of this monster

created from the dangers of science, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa utilized an aptly named device called

the “Oxygen Destroyer,” a weapon created prior to the emergence of Godzilla in Japan. Stating

that the weapon, “could lead humanity to extinction, just like the H-bomb,” Serizawa destroyed

all records of his research of the weapon so that it could not fall into the wrong hands or be

reproduced and used by others for some nefarious purpose. In the process of killing the fifty-

meter tall nuclear abomination, Serizawa sacrifices his own life as well, knowing fully well the

destructive power of science and technology, and preferring any knowledge of the weapon to be

lost to the world and to not be used as a weapon.10 As Serizawa dies beneath the surface with the

monster, Dr. Yamane, a paleontologist committed to studying the creature, remarks, “I cannot

believe Godzilla was the last survivor of its species. If we continue nuclear testing, others of

Godzilla’s kind will appear again somewhere in the world.”11

At first glance, this film is no different than other B-movie nuclear monster films of the

1950’s. The release of Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, which follows a similar plot, greatly inspired

Toho and the producers of Gojira, as this film also dealt with the premise of a monster being

awoken by a nuclear detonation.12 However, further analysis of the film reveals a deeper theme,

one involving the detonation of nuclear weapons on Japanese soil tied directly to the war

experience. Directly referencing the Lucky Dragon incident within the first minute of the film,

Toho intended to compare the devastation of a nuclear weapon to that of a ferocious beast bent

10 Ibid. 11 Ibid., 1:35:00-1:35:27. 12 Chon A. Noriega, “Godzilla and the Japanese Nightmare: When Them! Is U.S.,” in Hibakusha Cinema: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Nuclear Image in Japanese Film, ed. Mick Broderick (New York: Keegan Paul International, 1996), 59. 18

upon pure destruction of man.13 It is no coincidence that the opening scene of the film is nearly a

mirror image of the events which occurred on March 1, 1954, save for the addition of a

radioactive monster rising from the sea. This event had a profoundly negative impact on US-

Japanese relations, relations that had already been tested under the American occupation.14 Ishirō

Honda, the director of the first Gojira film, stated in a 1992 interview, “Godzilla was a product of the times. There previously had been no monster like him. So, people were frightened, and shocked, by him.”15 Additionally, save for certain subtitled versions of the film, Godzilla is

specifically never gendered in the film, constantly being referred to as “it” instead of “he” or

“she”, except in certain English versions. This further supports Godzilla’s representation as a

product of “the bomb,” a monster created in a lab or by science, rather than being born by typical

means.

Therefore, it can be argued that not only was Godzilla intended as a metaphor for nuclear

weapons and their dangers, but also as a metaphor for the fear that fed the zeitgeist of postwar

Figure 2: Godzilla from the original Gojira (1954) attacking Tokyo. Source: “Godzilla (1954),” Gojipedia, accessed February 10, 2021, https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Godzilla_(1954)#cite_note--1.

13 Stuart Galbraith IV and R.M. Hayes, Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis of 103 Features Released in the United States, 1950-1992 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994), 13-14. 14 Dingman, 198-199. 15 Ishirō Honda, “Ishirō Honda Interview,” interview by David Milner, Kaiju Conversations, December, 1992. 19

Japan. Following the Second World War, many people within Japan succumbed to what was

referred to as “kyodatsu condition,” which roughly translates to “exhaustion” or “despair”.16 This

kyodatsu condition, which had steadily built during the war and culminated with the bombings of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is clearly evident throughout the film. The war experiences of many

people in Japan is referenced very heavily throughout the films, with many scenes and dialogues

devoted to the lasting memories of the conflict and its impact on Japan. When Godzilla initially

arrives in Japan, what appears to be stock footage shows Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) sailors

aboard several destroyers launching depth charges into the water in the hopes of killing

“Godzilla”.17 In another, a mother is shown clutching her crying children, uttering, “we’ll be

joining your father in just a moment.”18 Trying to soothe the children, she continues, saying, “a

little longer, a little longer and we’ll be with your daddy,” before they burn alive in the inferno

that is Tokyo 19 In numerous other scenes, searchlights and air-raid sirens reminiscent of the US

bombings of Japan warn the people of Godzilla’s approach, with the JSDF attempting to

evacuate the children of Tokyo to the countryside. The Japanese people in the film are shown

exhausted and in despair, having survived the war only to deal with the threat of Godzilla

afterwards. This is similar to general mentalities following the Lucky Dragon Incident, which was seen by many Japanese as another nuclear attack on Japan by America and caused many cries for the banning of nuclear weapons tests.20

Although it is met with initial jubilance at the death of Godzilla, the final scene involving

the Oxygen Destroyer takes a sudden, somber turn when the people aboard the ship realize the

16 Dower, Embracing Defeat, 88-89. 17 Gojira, 29:27-30:10. 18 Ibid., 1:01:53-1:02:05. 19 Ibid. 20 Dingman, 199. 20

sacrifice that Serizawa makes. Dr. Yamane and the other observers aboard the ship seemingly

“break down” after viewing Godzilla’s death, with many openly displaying despair and grief

over the sacrifice of their friend. As Serizawa is revealed to have been a veteran of the war, his

death is reflective and representative of the sacrifices made by the many servicemen that died in the conflict, with the death itself reminiscent of the sacrifices of kamikaze pilots that were

viewed as defending the homeland. The film does not take moral judgement against Serizawa

and his prior service in the war, rather it shows that his sacrifice was not in vain, much like these

pilots that were generally viewed during the war as sacrificing themselves for Japan. By

differentiating Godzilla from the monster from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Honda and

Toho Studios created a monster with a distinctly Japanese voice inspired by the nation’s experiences at the hands of US nuclear science.

It is by no coincidence that a nation exposed to the most destructive weapon ever created would fashion a monster of similar, nuclear proportions. The additional detonation of the Castle:

Bravo hydrogen weapon furthered Japanese fears and anxieties towards nuclear weapons, but more specifically the United States’ use of nuclear weapons on Japan, heightening anti-American

sentiments among the people.21 Following the detonation of the Bravo weapon and the subsequent contamination of the crew and its haul, the Japanese government became rightly agitated and hostile towards the United States, flatly refusing American doctors to observe the patients affected by the detonation.22 Immediately following the Second World War, Japan

perceived itself largely as a victim of the war, that it was a nation abused and ruined by the

21 Smith-Norris, 7. 22 U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States 1952-1954, Vol. XIV: China and Japan, Part 2 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1985), 1632. 21

atomic bombings and technology.23 The use of nuclear weapons on Japan created within the

people a sense that their failure to develop advanced science during the war had led to their

downfall and that the United States had beaten them with superior technological and scientific

means, rather than by conventional means.24 This rationalization also created a general anxiety in

the Japanese towards science and technology in general, at least its use on this occasion by the

United States to defeat Japan.25 This is highlighted in Gojira by Dr. Serizawa’s insistence that all

plans for his weapon be destroyed to prevent the destructive power of science and technology

from being unleashed upon the world, as had been done during the war.26 Serizawa’s insistence

upon his own sacrifice for the good of mankind also highlights a rationalization of Japan as

utilizing “good” science, where the creation of scientific thought and invention do not threaten

humanity and are made on moral grounds, which conflicts with and counters the “bad” American

science that had created Godzilla from an atomic weapon.27 Both of these notions were derived

from earlier ideas borrowed from American science fiction films where scientists are the root

cause of the film’s problems, but also the only people may have the only solution to stop the

kaiju as well.28

This idea aligns heavily with ideas created by Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818),

where a monster is created when a scientist tampers with nature by creating life from a dead

body.29 In the novel, a seemingly mad scientist by the name of Victor Frankenstein manages to

23 Morris Low, “The Birth of Godzilla: Nuclear Fear and the Ideology of Japan as Victim,” Japanese Studies Bulletin 13, no. 2 (1993), 55. 24 Walter E. Grunden, Secret Weapons and World War II: Japan in the Shadow of Big Science (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005), 198. 25 Low, 53. 26 Gojira. 27 Low, 56. 28 Spencer R. Weart, Nuclear Fear: A History of Images (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1988), 21-22. 29 Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus, volume 1 (London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones, 1918). Curiously, Ishirō Honda later directed a film titled Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) due to his fascination surrounding a monster being created by science. 22

create a living creature from a collection of deceased human body parts with the help of science,

but the plans go awry when the “monster” escapes and is eventually killed. The book also

reflects on man’s place in nature, questioning whether he should take on the mantle of creator if

given the opportunity and how that burden can lead to disaster. Much like this story, Godzilla is

seen as a diabolical monster that had been created from the misuse of science at the hands of a

nation that had already used science to defeat Japan. This idea is prevalent throughout the

entirety of the Godzilla franchise, featuring scientists constantly on a path to correct their own

mistakes and misuses of science, but is especially shown here. Effectively, Honda and the

creators of Gojira portray their monster as a modern “Frankenstein’s Monster,” a creature

unwittingly released upon humanity by the abuse of nature and science. America, the “creator”

of Godzilla, is shown in a similar way to Frankenstein, in that it has the opportunity to explore

science without ever questioning the morality of it.30

Initially a brainchild of Toho producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, Gojira was intended as a contender against blockbusting American monster films, like RKO’s remake of its famous King

Kong (1952) and Them! (1954).31 However, Tanaka also intended to directly appeal to Japanese

and international fears of nuclear annihilation and radioactive fallout stemming from hydrogen

bomb testing.32 This is evident when Tanaka later claimed, “[t]he theme of the film, from the

beginning, was the terror of the Bomb. Mankind had created the Bomb, and now nature was

going to take revenge on mankind.”33 This statement indicates that not only was Tanaka inspired

by the destructive power of the hydrogen bomb in the creation of his monster, but it also conveys

30 Low, 52. 31 David Kalat, A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series (London: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1997), 13. 32 Ibid., 13. 33 Tsutsui, 18. 23

the message of fear and loathing towards the abomination that was the bomb, personified by

Godzilla itself. Many features of Godzilla’s physical image contributed to his personification of

the bomb, including his rough skin, intended to resemble the burnt skin and keloid scars of burn

victims from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.34 Around this time, survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

were studied to understand lingering and long-term effects of radiation on human populations.35

These studies, conducted by both Japanese and American scientists, found that radiation from

these bombings profoundly influenced the health and development of many people living within

these cities, causing severe terminal illnesses like cancer that were at much higher rates than

other populations.36 Toho’s efforts to display radiation as not a silent, unseen killer, but rather a

giant, formidable, visible monstrosity capable of destroying Japan amalgamated into the giant

lizard that is still recognizable today. By creating a giant monster that was in actuality a man in a

suit, Toho created the image of mankind creating its own doom, a monster born from the power

of science and technology, a monster created from radiation and fear.

With the success of the first Gojira, Toho Studios quickly recognized that it could be one

in a series of many films that may lead to substantial sales revenue, while also allowing the

film’s creators to insert moral themes and messages. The first successor in the series of films

produced by Toho, Godzilla Raids Again (1955) contained many references and innuendos

harkening back to Gojira. Following along similar plot points, the film began with two pilots

flying over the Pacific Ocean before they stumble upon two gigantic monsters locked in battle on

a small island. Returning to their base at Osaka, the pilots discover that the creatures they found

were the dinosaurs Gigantis (a Godzilla-like creature) and Anguirus, revived by further

34 Ibid., 33. 35 Susan Lindee, Susan Lindee, “ Survivors and Scientists: Hiroshima, Fukushima, and the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, 1975-2014,” Social Studies of Science 26, no. 2 (2016), 189-190. 36 Ibid., 196-198. 24 detonations of nuclear weapons conducted by the United States.37 Everyone’s fears were heightened when Dr. Yamane, the paleontologist played by Takashi Shimura in the first film that identified Godzilla, revealed that the only way to destroy the monsters was by detonation of the

Oxygen Destroyer, the plans of which were destroyed by Dr. Serizawa. Soon, Gigantis sets upon

Osaka, which is evacuated to prevent damage upon human life. Attempting to distract the beast, the Japanese Self-Defense Air Force launches flares towards the ocean, but a fire within the city brings Gigantis and Anguirus ashore again, pitting them in a battle in the heart of Osaka. The fire is started by criminals that had managed to overwhelm their guards and crash their prison truck into an industrial building, causing the truck to explode and set the building on fire. Gigantis, in the process of defeating Anguirus, burned down Osaka, leaving its people homeless. Unable to stop the onslaught by killing the monster with conventional weapons, pilots fired rockets at a mountain, burying Gigantis in ice and freezing him, but also leaving Osaka in ruins.38

This film, while not intended to have the same grave messages prevalent in the first film, nonetheless provided a glimpse into the fears inhabiting the mind of Japan during the Cold

War.39 The metaphor that the giant monsters in the film provided, that is, two superpowers unleashing their full fury upon each other with lesser powers caught in the middle, suggests the anxiety of Japan in the Cold War, stuck as it was between the powers of the United States and the Soviet Union. The futility of modern weapons against such raw power was highlighted as well by the recently established Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) having to resort to collapsing a mountain on Gigantis to defeat it, entombing the kaiju in a cold embrace that is itself an

37 In the film, the creature is referred to as “Gigantis,” despite the film’s title being Godzilla Raids Again. Although it is unclear why the filmmakers chose to change the monster’s name, this films exists in the same chronology as the first Gojira film, so it may have been a choice to minimize the confusion for audiences that watched the original monster die. The American version of the film is called Gigantis, the Fire Monster in a similar way to lessen confusion. 38 Godzilla Raids Again, directed by Motoyoshi Oda and Takeo Murata (Toho, 1955), film. 39 Kalat, 37. 25

allegory for the Cold War. Focusing on creating a silent, eerie atmosphere that contrasted the

destruction that the monsters wrought, the film also provided a metaphor for the struggle that

characterized the rebuilding of Japan following the Second World War.40

While focusing less on the immediate dangers posed by nuclear weapons, this film highlighted the dangers that another world war might bring to Japan, even while it was still attempting to forget the last one. Furthermore, the insistence to create the setting for this film as different than the first suggests a correlation between the destruction brought on by US bombings of Japan during World War II. As the US military bombed numerous cities in Japan during the war, creating a distinction in the sequel between the settings of the two films, Tokyo and Osaka, suggests a reference to these various bombings, a tragedy that still inhabited a bitter and mournful side of Japan’s mind. The level of urban destruction brought on by these bombings was unlike anything ever seen before, especially since many Japanese homes in urban areas were constructed of wood and were subsequently burned from existence.41 Many cities, Tokyo and

Osaka included, were reduced to piles of ash and rubble following the heavy bombing conducted by the US military during the war, so the numerous scenes of Osaka burning were intended to be a stark reminder of this.

Additionally, Osaka saw massive suburban and urban growth following the Second

World War, becoming an economic and industrial giant as a result of American assistance to the economy.42 Part of the “economic miracle” that Japan witnessed in the 1950s and 1960s, Osaka’s

industrial growth was the pride of Japan, an example of how the nation was able to rise above its

wartime past. In the film, this industrialization is on full display, with Osaka boasting a

40 Ibid., 38. 41 Dower, 46-47. 42 Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, 2nd edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 254-255. 26 sophisticated infrastructure and several industrial buildings. An actual attack on such a modern city would be devastating, highlighting that the growth Japan was experiencing was not without its trepidations. However, during and after the war the city became a massive center of crime and black market actions as well, further showing the changes that the city was going through, albeit in the unsavory direction. Beginning during the war to capitalize on the growing demand for necessities like food, Osaka was one example of the many cities throughout Japan that saw the growth of “open air” black markets where crime syndicates could sell wares to the people.43

Specifically, it was estimated in 1946 that 100,000 people within Osaka were supporting themselves by purchasing necessities at black markets in the city.44 The inclusion of the criminals crashing the truck and starting the fire shows a connection to these black markets in

Osaka, arguing that the high levels of crime within the city would eventually become its downfall. Choosing Osaka as the location for the sequel’s monster battle highlighted these changes, but also references the war itself and how it brought numerous changes to Japan

Also attempting to capitalize upon the success of the Japanese film, American studios in

Hollywood scrambled to gain exclusive rights to reshoot and reproduce Gojira. Ultimately,

Embassy Pictures, led by Joseph Levine, obtained the rights to produce the film and paid Toho

$25,000 to cut and reedit the film however the American pleased.45 What followed from this deal was Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), a rewritten and recut version of Tanaka and Honda’s popular film featuring an American lead and English translation dubbed over the original dialogue. As the American version of the film cut approximately 40 minutes from the original, some significant scenes are missing. For example, the opening scene featuring the fishing boat

43 Dower, 140-141. 44 Ibid. 45 Ibid., 24. 27

was cut, and there is no mention of the testing of atomic weapons, especially any that were

within proximity the Japanese fishing trolley.

Although not much of the story changed, it is noteworthy that the film had an American

cast in the lead role, rather than maintain the all-Japanese cast of the original.46 While Embassy

Pictures exercised their rights to produce the film to their liking, the major downfall of the film

was the removal of any reference that the original Japanese version contained of the Second

World War and the Cold War. The cutting of crucial references to atomic weapons also displays

Japanese media at the mercy of American censorship, as had been the case during the American

occupation that followed the Second World War. While the American version of the Japanese

classic removes the references to nuclear war, it highlights not only a sense of American superiority, but emphasizes the darker messages that permeate throughout the original Gojira

film by insisting on their absence.47 It is the silence present in the American version that

resounds so loudly with the messages present in the original.48

Despite the original monster being a product of atomic weapons and Japanese mythology,

the Godzilla that is shown in the American production is simply shown as another giant monster

that breaths fire.49 Missing any of the connections to nuclear weaponry that Gojira displayed, the

American version also completely misses the subtle references to Japanese myth that are

pertinent throughout the original. When Godzilla attacks Odo Island in the first film, the villagers

immediately identify the creature as a beast from Japanese myth, fleeing in terror as their legend

comes to life.50 Of course, there is no such monster in true Japanese mythology, but the original

46 Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, directed by Terry Morse and Ishirō Honda (Embassy Pictures, 1956), DVD. 47 Mick Broderick, editor, Hibakusha Cinema: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Nuclear Image in Japanese Film (New York: Keegan Paul International, 1996), 3. 48 Kalat, 28. 49 Ibid., 32. 50 Gojira. 28

Gojira film nonetheless utilizes superstitious and religious beliefs as a driving theme for how many people in Japan processed the atomic age. The subtle references to mythology that are present in Gojira also reference survivors’ accounts of the detonation of the atomic bomb on

Hiroshima as “supernatural” and like “Buddhist Hell.”51 By completely ignoring these mythological references, Godzilla King of the Monsters! also misses the mythological Japanese cultural connotations of the original film, thusly abandoning the thematic elements involving the use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a major point of stigma in Japanese society.

Although not directly part of the Godzilla franchise and acting as a standalone film, the

1956 release of Rodan was another kaiju eiga released by Toho Studios that featured a similar premise of an ancient monster awoken by modern man. The film begins with the mysterious disappearance of two miners from a small village on the island of Kyushu. The two miners, named Goro and Yoshi, had disappeared shortly after they were seen brawling and the mine shaft they descended has flooded, prompting an investigation by Shigeru Kawamura who finds

Yoshi’s corpse within the mine. When a preliminary autopsy is performed by a local doctor, it is found that the cause of death was by deep lacerations all over Yoshi’s body, prompting suspicions that Goro had killed him. Additionally, when a search party consisting of two miners and a police officer descend into the mine, they are similarly slain by an unseen attacker while

Shigeru and his fiancé are attacked in their home by a giant insect larva. As they chase and attempt to kill the giant insect, two more police officers are killed before it escapes back into the mine and Shigeru suspects that the monster is the cause of Yoshi’s death. This is proven when

Goro’s body is found deeper in the mine and Shigeru manages to kill the monster. However, another larva appears and the mine collapses, trapping Shigeru while a scientist on the surface

51 Andrew J. Rotter, Hiroshima: The World’s Bomb (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 231. 29

identifies the insect as part of the Meganuron species, an ancient type of giant dragonfly. Shortly

thereafter, an earthquake that is suspected to have been from the volcanic Mount Aso is

investigated by police, who find Shigeru wandering aimlessly near the volcano out of the mine.

Following this, a JSDF pilot from a nearby airbase reports seeing a giant UFO, but the pilot is

killed by the object when it flies away at supersonic speed. Several more sightings arise across

East Asia of similar objects in the sky before a photograph of the UFO is found, leading

authorities to deduce that the object is really a Pteranodon, a giant flying reptile that lived

millions of years ago. In the hospital recovering from his injuries sustained in the mine, Shigeru

remembers seeing a giant bird-like creature hatching from a large egg within the mine. To

confirm the connection, Shigeru leads another exploration into the mine, where fragments from

the egg are found and connected to the flying creature, which is dubbed Rodan (also called

“Radon” or “Ladon” in the Japanese version).52 Although it is initially theorized that Rodan was

awoken by nuclear testing, much like Godzilla, the creature’s appearance is ultimately connected

to the earthquake that had trapped Shigeru in the mine before. When Rodan appears again, it is

pursued and attacked near Fukuoka by JSDF pilots, but only before it unleashes a destructive

windstorm from its wings on the city. Suddenly, a second Rodan is spotted heading towards the

city, where the two monsters meet before travelling back to Mount Aso. Trapped within the

volcano, the JSDF then begin an attack against the mountain, causing it to collapse around the

two creatures and kill them. Finally safe from the carnage, Shigeru and the other villagers watch

the monsters embrace each other in death, moved by the emotional scene.53

52 Ladon is also the name of a multi-headed dragon from Greek mythology that guards the golden apples in the garden of Atlas. This dragon is killed by Heracles during the voyage of the Argonauts. See Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica, bk. IV, translated by R.C. Seaton, 1912, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/830/830-h/830-h.htm. 53 Rodan, directed by Ishirō Honda (Toho, 1956), DVD. 30

Although this film does not maintain the similar messages concerning nuclear weapons

that are present in the Godzilla franchise, Rodan is still reflective of postwar Japan and its economic development. The American version of the film, which was distributed by the King

Brothers in 1957, discusses hydrogen bomb testing at the beginning of the film, but this is seemingly disconnected from the events that transpire and are not discussed later. Instead, Rodan

is mainly concerned with industrialization and the effects of industrial greed on nature, this film

implies that the miners in the film dug too deep and unleashed their own undoing.54 In the film,

Shigeru remarks in a narration, “[w]e had dug too deeply for our coal and awakened [the

monsters] to destroy us all.”55 This presents massive industrialization as a real concern for many people in Japan, who saw these men tearing at the Earth as a dangerous endeavor. Much like themes of nuclear weapons in other films of the time, Rodan plays heavily on issues that had existed within Japan following the Second World War, such as the massively rapid levels of industrialization within the country. Before the war, Japan represented a miracle of

industrialization, an Asian country that was able to harness the industrial revolution alongside the

West and become “the Workshop of Asia”.56 This industrialization initially came in the form of

textiles, similarly becoming the leading industry like patterns in Europe and the US, but

eventually included coal and iron mining, which became the second leading industry.57 This industrialization greatly aided a developing Modern Japan, facilitating a large degree of manufacturing and bringing capitalism to the archipelago. However, it also brought about great

54 Kalat, 58. 55 Ibid., 41:30-42:00. 56 Gordon, 93. 57 Ibid., 95. 31

anxieties among the Japanese people, who saw this massive industrialization as a breaking of

traditions before and after the war, in addition to environmental hazards.58

Such anxieties were not without historical connections, namely the pollution caused by

copper mines like that at Ashio in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.59 This particular mine, which caused heavy pollution and contamination of the Shimotsuke Plain, created a great deal of anxiety towards industrial mining and man’s abuse of nature and prompted the creation of the Third Mine Pollution Prevention Order in 1897.60 This order

created requirements for the Ashio mine and others to prevent contamination of waterways, such

as installing filters and moats around the mine.61 Much like the environmental concerns posed by

Gojira focused on nuclear weapons, Rodan explores similar environmental concerns targeting industrial mining. In the film, the monster Rodan is compared to this pollution in that the monster is shown as a hazard created from mining too deep. The monster, like Godzilla, is a literal force of nature, able to use its great size and wings to muster winds that blow away buildings. Much like the Ashio mine caused severe pollution that contaminated waterways and subsequently affected people downstream, the mining in the film that awakens Rodan by connection also causes the destruction unleashed by the monster. So in a way, the film calls into question the morality and utility of industrial mining, especially if it influences nature and causes damages to human populations by creating environmental hazards.

When war eventually erupted in Korea in 1950, the US immediately mustered the industrial might of Japan to aid them in their battle on the nearby Korean Peninsula, including

58 Ibid., 93. 59 Brett L. Walker, Toxic Archipelago : A History of Industrial Disease in Japan (Seattle, University of Washington Press, 2010), 71. 60 Ibid., 100-101. 61 Ibid. 32

industrial mining.62 Having already aided the Japanese economy in its postwar recovery, the US

went about prioritizing several key manufacturing industries within Japan that were key to the

war effort, such as the mining of metal products, the manufacturing of war materiel, and many

other areas.63 Despite the economy and manufacturing ability of Japan being severely reduced

and shattered during World War II, these focuses on “special procurements” during the Korean

War helped revive Japan’s economy and was key to its “postwar miracle” that kept it aloft

through the rest of the 20th Century. However, these “hands” in the Japanese economy also

brought about a greater contempt and anxiety towards the US, which had rapidly reinvigorated

its military occupation of Japan in an effort to fight in Korea, much to the ire of the Japanese

people.64 Much as Rodan is seen as a metaphor for man’s greed and industrialization, as noted by

David Kalat, this metaphor can be extended to the US occupation of Japan and its revival during

the Korean War. What had originally appeared to Japanese and American observers as an

occupation that would only last roughly three years was rapidly shifted and extended in the face

of this war to facilitate rapid deployment of troops and allow for a greater manufacturing of

necessary equipment.65 Although the war eventually brought an end to occupation and

reinvigorated the Japanese economy, it also brought great anxieties among the Japanese people

regarding the US military’s presence. Similarly to how Rodan is shown in the film emerging

from the effects of industrialization, so too did a reinvigorated war economy for Japan, a nation

that had recent memories of Imperialism and militarism. As such, this thesis argues that Rodan

62 Dower., 526. 63 Ibid., 541; Gordon, 239. 64 Ibid., 526. 65 Ibid., 525. Many politicians and observers had wildly differing ideas of how long occupation would last. While some did express their beliefs that it would last only three years, others estimated closer to two decades at a minimum. See also Gordon, 239. 33

can be considered a metaphor not only for Japan’s industrialization, but also for its new war

economy that had been reignited by its prior adversary.

Lastly, Rodan and the Early Shōwa as a whole calls into question the utility and

possibility of nuclear weapons and power in a postwar Japan. In the mid-1950s, Japanese

conservative politicians called for their nation to develop nuclear weapons so that they could

defend themselves and provide a degree of deterrence against Communist aggression.66

Although this was ultimately decided against and it was decided that the nuclear armament of the

US was sufficient deterrence, these discussions appeared numerous times through the 1950s-

1960s and greatly troubled many Japanese people.67 Surprisingly, the nation that had seen first- hand the devastating effects of nuclear weapons was poised to develop its own stockpile of these devices. Although the JSDF in Rodan is shown as a capable force that can defeat these monsters without the use of nuclear weapons, the idea of Japan developing nuclear weapons is on display within this film, along with the fears and anxieties that accompany it. However, this argument that the JSDF can defend Japan without these weapons also supports ideas and arguments against nuclear proliferation, effectively saying that the JSDF is sufficient protection for Japan and any pursuit of a nuclear stockpile would be too dangerous and militaristic for a postwar Japan.

Additionally, the “Atoms for Peace” movement at the time was met with different levels of reception in Japan, varying from resistance to acceptance and support.68 The Atoms for Peace

program, which was initiated under the Eisenhower Administration in 1953 to construct nuclear

power plants in various nations, was met with heavy anti-nuclear sentiments in Japan,

66 Kusunoki Ayako, “The Satō Cabinet and the Making of Japan's Non-Nuclear Policy,” The Journal of American- East Asian Relations 15 (2008), 27-28. 67 Ibid. 68 Ran Zwigenberg, “The Coming of a Second Sun”: The 1956 Atoms for Peace Exhibit in Hiroshima and Japan’s Embrace of Nuclear Power,” The Asia-Pacific Journal 10, no. 1 (February 6, 2012), 1. 34

particularly following the Lucky Dragon incident.69 This backlash followed a tour by Ichirō

Ishikawa, president of Japan’s Federation of Economic Organizations (F.E.O.), to the United

States to meet with several physicists on the possibility of developing an atomic energy program

in Japan.70 Following this tour, it was proposed by many scientists within the F.E.O. in 1955 to

construct a nuclear power plant, and formed the Committee for the Peaceful Use of Atomic

Energy.71 Working alongside American scientists, it was even proposed that a nuclear reactor be

constructed in Hiroshima to serve as a statement on the rehabilitation of Japan in the face of

nuclear disaster and peace between the two nations.72 However, this was met by immediate

backlash from many people in Japan, who recognized the inherent danger posed by nuclear

reactors, which were seen as more dormant forms of nuclear bombs.73 Much like how these

“sleeping” nuclear bombs could be awoken by accident and destroy surrounding areas, Rodan

and Godzilla are shown as being awoken by the misuse of science and industry. These

comparisons between Rodan and nuclear reactors shows the great deal of anxiety that many

Japanese people felt towards the prospect of Japan igniting a nuclear energy program. Therefore,

Rodan and Godzilla, two creations of nuclear energy and the abuse of science, are comparable in

their destructive capabilities, two nuclear monsters that were poised to destroy Japan.

The Early Shōwa period in the Godzilla franchise highlights many of the immediate

postwar memories, fears, and anxieties of Japan. This nation, which had seen the worst of World

War II and an occupation by the nation that caused its cities to burn, became caught between two competing superpowers in the Cold War. Memories of burning cities and air raids, fears of the

69 Ibid., 2. 70 Morris Low and Hitoshi Yoshioka, “Buying the ‘Peaceful Atom’: The Development of Nuclear Power in Japan,” Historia Scientiarum 38 (1989), 31. 71 Ibid., 33. 72 Zwigenberg, 5. 73 Ibid. 35 growing might of Communist power in Asia, and anxieties about US nuclear weapons tests are on full display throughout these early films. Many other thoughts and ideas, such as Japan’s recovery and industrialization, are on display as well in the early Shōwa, highlighting influences from a postwar Japan. Influences of the Cold War are apparent in these films, but the most pressing issues and themes within them are derived from Japan during the postwar years.

However, this focus dramatically shifted in the later Shōwa, with the majority of these films more concerned with the development of the Cold War than Japan’s postwar interlude in the

1950s. These themes still appear in many later films, but the Cold War became the main focus of the Godzilla films following the beginning of the late Shōwa. 36

CHAPTER TWO A COLD WAR MONSTER: GODZILLA IN THE LATE SHŌWA PERIOD

Rather than focusing on Japan’s postwar years, the later installments to the Shōwa series instead explore the Cold War and its many events as an overarching theme. These films each offer a unique interpretation of Japan’s position during this time period, as well as the international events that brought fear and anxieties to the Japanese people. The spread of communism, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the growing hostilities between East and

West, and many more themes are on display throughout these films. Although these films are often marked by low production qualities, confusing plotlines, and emphasis on children as the main audience, they all offer substantive themes and messages to some capacity. Resuming where the previous chapter left off, this chapter argues that the later films of the Shōwa placed a heavy emphasis on themes concerning the Cold War, Japan’s position in this time period, and the anxieties that the Japanese people had concerning the Cold War.

Much like the inspiration for the original Gojira rising from the depths of American science fiction and fantasy, King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) reignited the series by featuring the

American legend, King Kong, and having him face off against the Japanese monster of nuclear myth, Godzilla. Although this film lacks the stark references to nuclear detonation and

Hiroshima, the film opens with Godzilla being awakened from ice to destroy an American nuclear submarine, which can be read as a direct reference to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Cold War at that time. As the film progresses, Godzilla attacks Japan, leaving the

JSDF scrambling to find a way to defeat the monster. At the same time, in an attempt to help defeat Godzilla, a pharmaceutical company attempts a mission to retrieve a giant monster god and a nonaddictive narcotic berry on the mythical Faro Island. In doing so, the company hopes to use the berry for medicinal purposes and capitalize on the subsequent television appearances of 37

the monsters fighting. Finding that the beast on Faro is the famous King Kong, the company then

drugs the animal using the berry before transferring him back to Japan. Capitalizing on two

monsters suddenly rampaging across Japan, the Japanese government decides to pit the two

monsters against each other in a fight to the death, preferring King Kong to destroy the King of

Monsters. Using electricity and massive amounts of explosions, the JSDF lure the two monsters

into a fight, which only King Kong walks away from, eventually swimming back to his home on

Faro Island.1

As stated previously, the third installment in the Godzilla series lacks many of the major thematic elements of the original Gojira, such as the testing of Hydrogen bombs, but rather

contains subtler references to the Cold War as a whole and the interplay between Japan and the

United States at the time.2 Using the American legend King Kong as the defender of Japan

against a nuclear beast, a clear connection between the monsters and the belligerents of the Cold

War, the United States and the Soviet Union, can be made. Many of the characters in the film,

hoping that the monsters would destroy each other and leave Japan in peace, view the bouts

between the two as a series of wrestling matches, the imagery of which is enhanced by the

knowledge that both of the beasts are played by humans in rubber suits. Additionally, this film

addresses concerns from the filmmakers towards the growing state of media and television in

Japan at the time, which was seen as a threat to Toho’s earnings. The pharmaceutical company

that had originally abducted Kong from his home is shown as only caring about television ratings

and capturing the monsters on camera, not necessarily capturing them physically.3 The company,

1 King Kong vs. Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda (Toho, 1962), DVD. 2 David Kalat, A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series (London: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1997), 44. 3 Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, From Godzilla to Kurosawa (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2017), 186. 38

which wants to enter a “ratings war” and was seeing its previous television ratings decline, is a

representation of media companies at the time scrambling to find shows to fill time slots.4 The

connection to the rise of television in the 1960s is further represented by the characters that are

part of the company, who are often shown maniacally scrambling around and using physical

humor like their television counterparts.

Lacking much of the visceral horror present in the previous films in the series, King Kong

vs. Godzilla also makes a distinction between the two monsters as friend and foe.5 Where

Godzilla was the main focus of the previous films, the introduction of King Kong as fighting the nuclear dinosaur creates an image of the United States as fighting against the belligerent nuclear power of the Soviet Union with Japan caught in the middle. Though King Kong is regarded in the film as intentionally brought to Japan for its protection against Godzilla, the giant ape also destroys a massive amount of property, similar to Godzilla. In fact, the American reporter Eric

Carter, who serves as the film’s narrator of sorts as the action in Japan progresses, shows clear bias towards Kong, stating, “strangely enough, we wish him luck on his long, long journey home” after the giant ape’s victory over Godzilla.6 This shows a direct reference to the American

occupation that ended over one decade preceding the released of the film and a connection

between Kong and the United States. Though the American presence was wholly good for Japan,

allowing the country to rebuild and develop economically, the disregard for Japanese society and

culture that resulted in the exchange left the Japanese people with a bitter taste, one that did not

leave following the end of occupation in 1952.7 In fact, throughout the Cold War numerous

4 Ibid., 187. 5 Kalat, 48. 6 Stuart Galbraith IV and R.M. Hayes, Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis of 103 Features Released in the United States, 1950-1992 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994), 79. 7 John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999), 526. 39

American vessels, including nuclear submarines and carriers, were often received and allowed to

dock in Japanese ports despite both nations’ denials of such occurrences.8 These policies, which

greatly distressed and angered the Japanese people, were accompanied by nuclear war planning

within Japan by the US military and JSDF following the 1960 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and

Security.9

During the course of the film, the JSDF plan the detonation of a massive amount of

dynamite, hopefully enough to destroy both Godzilla and King Kong.10 However, the resulting

blast merely opens a giant fissure in the ground, out of which the nuclear beast emerges alive and

unscathed. Subtler than the connotation of King Kong as the United States and Godzilla as the

Soviet Union, this scene references Hiroshima, which similarly blasted a whole in the ground

and released a nuclear menace upon Japan. While this is dismissible as faulty strategy and a

weak plot in the film, a deeper examination shows a direct relationship to the use of atomic

weapons against Japan. This is supported by a Japanese minister rejecting the use of nuclear

weapons against the monsters, stating, “we are not anxious to destroy Tokyo.”11 Recognizing the

destructive power of the atomic weapon, the Japanese government flatly refuses using it against

their foes, something that America had done to them. However, this again connects to the

Japanese government’s consent to allow American nuclear warheads to enter the nation and to be

8 Hans Kristensen, “Japan Under the US Nuclear Umbrella,” Supporting Documents Global Problem Solving nuke policy, July 21, 1999, 2-3, https://nautilus.org/supporting-documents/japan-under-th- -us-nuclear-umbrella/; The first nuclear submarine, named the Nautilus after the craft in Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870), was developed by the US Navy in 1955. This craft utilized its own onboard nuclear reactor as a source of power, a technological feat that was seen as an impressive feat of engineering. See also Spencer R. Weart, The Rise of Nuclear Fear (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012), 91-92. 9 Ibid., 4. 10 King Kong vs. Godzilla. 11 Ibid. 40

stored there, which continued well into the 1990s after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and

the “end” of the Cold War.12

In reality, President John F. Kennedy had announced just before the release of King Kong

vs. Godzilla that the United States would continue the testing of nuclear weapons both

underground and in the atmosphere.13 While this was eventually followed by the Limited Test

Ban Treaty of 1963, Kennedy’s goal was to eventually reduce the amount of nuclear testing by

the United States, while still providing security for the world. In a speech delivered over radio

and television on March 2, 1962, Kennedy stated, “those free peoples who value their freedom

and security, and look to our relative strength to shield them from danger-those who know of our

good faith in seeking an end to testing and an end to the arms race-will, I am confident, want the

United States to do whatever it must to deter the threat of aggression.”14 This quote implies that

the United States began to reduce nuclear testing, but would continue to protect its allies, much

like how King Kong protected Japan from Godzilla.

Following along a similar plot of King Kong vs. Godzilla and the fourth installment in the

Godzilla franchise, Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) again follows the giant nuclear dinosaur doing

battle with another, equally ferocious beast of supposed Japanese myth; a giant moth known as

Mothra (or Masura in Japanese). While Mothra lacked the brute force that King Kong possessed

in the previous film, she was nonetheless equally capable of combatting Godzilla. The film

follows the story of a giant, mysterious egg that washes ashore in Japan, and is eventually

revealed to be the egg of Mothra, a giant female moth. As several entrepreneurs and seedy

salesmen attempt to haggle and argue over the rights to exploit the egg commercially, Mothra

12 Kristensen, 5. 13 John F. Kennedy, Nuclear Testing and Disarmament (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1962) text of radio-television address, 12. 14 Ibid., 12. 41 arrives with two fairies to negotiate and take the egg back to Mothra’s island. It is revealed that the egg had washed ashore as a result of a nuclear hurricane emanating from the island, which was subject to several nuclear weapons tests. As this unfolded, Godzilla arrived in Japan, apparently rising from the soil to wreak havoc on the island nation once more. In a final effort, the Japanese people plead with Mothra to defend their homeland against the onslaught. Mothra agrees, knowing that she will perish in the process and be reborn as her offspring from the egg.

This foreshadowing comes to fruition and Mothra dies by Godzilla’s hand, but only before her egg hatches, revealing two gigantic larvae that quickly defeat Godzilla and save Japan from certain destruction.15

Unlike the thematic elements present in King Kong vs. Godzilla, those present in Mothra vs. Godzilla are more profound and clear, echoing the remnant thoughts and mindsets of the

Second World War and the Cold War. However, the idea of “good vs. evil” that was presented in the previous film still holds, and takes precedence over the animalistic brawl that occurs in previous films of the series.16 While the looming presence of nuclear war is clear in the film, as

Mothra’s island was heavily bombarded with radiation from nuclear weapons tests, more thematic elements are at play, such as the role of religion in the modern world, represented by

Mothra and the fairies.17 Mothra, which is portrayed as a symbol of Christianity in Japan, is seen as a guardian of morals and the security of Japan when military might cannot prevail. A polar opposite to the destructive madness that personifies Godzilla, Mothra was a representation of moral, intelligent thought that used spirit and harmony defeat the enemies of truth. Describing

Mothra as female also shows this comparison, implying that a feminine and motherly figure is

15 Mothra vs. Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda (Toho, 1964), DVD. 16 Kalat, 68. 17 Ibid., 69. 42

protective, harmonious, and peaceful. Following the Second World War, many people in Japan

cultivated sentiments of peace to contrast the militarism of the past and usher in a new

democratic Japan, despite this peace being invoked by an occupying force.18 Even superseding

the morality of the Japanese people that she is protecting, Mothra is displayed as a God-like or

fairy-like figure that intends only good and fights for moral justice.19 This can be seen as a

reference to the opposition that arose from religious institutions following the Second World

War on the morality of the use of nuclear weapons, both in Japan and in America.20

With the moral superiority that possessed Mothra in the film, there is also a deeper

connotation that can be made on Mothra’s character, one that references the Imperialist past of

Japan. Following the Second World War, under the guidance and insistence of the United States,

Japan was stripped of its military power, with no army, navy, or aeronautical forces being

authorized to function as a state military in Japan.21 This demand, instilled upon Japan by an

America that still remembered the enormous cost that the war imposed upon both nations,

effectively prohibited any belligerent military force to be mustered by Japan. However, as Japan

began to draft its new constitution during the American occupation in 1950, it became apparent

that a method of self-defense for the country was still required, especially with the Soviet Union

looming as a growing threat in the postwar years. Supported and approved by the US

government, Japan created a military force relying solely on the prospect of self-defense in the

event of a war.22 Known as the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, this force is still installed in Japan

18 Dower, 241. 19 Galbraith and Hayes, 94. 20 Matthew Jones, After Hiroshima: The United States, Race, and Nuclear Weapons in Asia, 1945-1965 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010), 9. 21 Dower, 361. 22 Ibid., 398. 43

today and has been featured fighting Godzilla and other monsters throughout the life of the

Godzilla franchise.

As Mothra had been destroyed and ultimately reborn as a new, reincarnated version of herself in the form of two larvae, she can been seen as an allegory for the death of the Imperial

Forces of Japan and the rebirth of them as the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). As both

Mothra and the Imperial Forces were destroyed by a foreign belligerent power that used nuclear

might and destruction to defeat them, a direct connection can be made between the two. In fact,

unlike later films where the enemy monster simply flees after being beaten by Godzilla or

severely weakened, Mothra dies within this film, something foretold by the fairies that

accompany her.23 This reflects many sentiments of Japanese military leaders at the onset of the

American entrance into the Second World War, who recognized that a prolonged war against the

industrial might of the United States was unwinnable, hoping to rely on a lack of will from the

Americans to wage war.24 Furthermore, the United States essentially encouraging the rebirth of

the military, or hatching the JSDF from the ashes of the old regime, resembles how the death of

Mothra by Godzilla brought about her rebirth as the two larvae from the egg. Godzilla, much like

the United States, both literally and metaphorically destroyed then revived their enemies. The

larvae hatching from the egg exemplifies this transformation, showing how the Japanese people

were still safe from war by an entity that had been re-formed from a power that had effectively

been killed off, also bringing with it an uncertain future for Japan and her people.

A notable transition in the series was the shift from Godzilla as the main villain, as he had

been in every film through Mothra vs. Godzilla, to the hero that fought against monsters that

23 Galbraith and Hayes, 95. 24 Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, 2nd edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 207. 44

posed a threat to Japan.25 This reflects not only a shift in the target audience for the series to

children, but also a shift in the ideology surrounding Godzilla as an image and character in

Japanese popular culture. Rather than a monster bent on pure destruction and wielding the

unrelenting power of the nuclear bomb, Godzilla was transformed into a humanized character

that acted in a motivated, benevolent way to both appeal to children and generate Godzilla as a

flesh and blood character.26 While this dropped ticket sales starkly and created a habit for Toho to generate poorly produced films, these films still remained the face of the studio, drawing in revenue from the allowance given to children by their parents.27 This is also connected to the

growing development of civilian atomic power that was taking place in Japan at this time.28

Although earlier developments of nuclear power were seen as a “sleeping bomb,” the

development of nuclear power in Japan filled a growing need for energy in that country.

Anxieties surrounding nuclear radiation still remained within the Japanese people, but many in

the nation agreed that the benefits of nuclear power could not be ignored, ushering in a new

image and recognition of nuclear radiation as a benefactor to Japan.

The first, and subsequently most notable, film in the series that cast Godzilla in the role

of Japan’s morally ambiguous protector and protagonist was Ghidrah, the Three-Headed

Monster (1964). Produced the same year as Mothra vs. Godzilla, this film revolves around

Mothra, Rodan, and Godzilla teaming together in order to defeat Ghidrah, a monstrous three- headed, hydra-like dragon from space that crashed in Japan as a meteor. During the film, a princess from a fictional country inhabits the persona of a Martian and gains the ability to see the

25 Kalat, 76. 26 Ibid., 77. 27 William Tsutsui, Godzilla on my Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 51-52. 28 Weart, Nuclear Fear, 304. 45

future, warning Japan of the extraterrestrial threat. While this happens, Ghidrah hatches from his

meteoric vessel and begins a reign of terror upon Japan, a short stop on his way to complete

global destruction. Able to communicate together, Mothra attempts to convince Rodan and

Godzilla to quit fighting in order to defeat the eminent threat posed by the new contender.

Refusing to join Mothra, the two other monsters continue their bickering and battling, causing

Mothra to be thrashed about by Ghidrah in a relentless fury. Seeing their fellow monster beaten

and in the face of defeat, Godzilla and Rodan intervene, eventually defeating Ghidrah and saving

the world. The three newly allied beasts part from each other, all going their separate ways until

the time comes when they must fight again.29

As with other movies in the Godzilla series at this time, Ghidrah, the Three Headed

Monster was mainly for the sole enjoyment of children and to continue to provide ticket revenue

for Toho. However, there still existed some underlying themes present in the film, most notably

of Ghidrah’s character. In his seminal work A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s

Godzilla Series, David Kalat argues as the extraterrestrial beast hailed from a foreign place to

attack Japan in the form of a golden dragon, in this instance Ghidrah stands in as a symbol of the

threat Communist China posed during the early Cold War. Like the growing power of the newly

founded People’s Republic of China, Ghidrah posed a comparable threat to Japan’s existence and

needed to be closely monitored and controlled.30 With three heads that speak in different tones to each other and the dragon-like appearance of an ancient Chinese dragon, this interpretation lends itself mainly to the heightened political tensions that had arisen between the two nations particularly towards China’s dealings in Korea Vietnam at the time, as well as its heightened

29 Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, directed by Ishirō Honda (Toho, 1964), DVD. 30 Kalat, 77. 46

interest and study of nuclear weapons.31 China, which had been slowly gaining influence

throughout East Asia, posed a dire threat to the US-backed democracies of Japan and the

Republic of Korea, especially as it began to develop a nuclear program, which came to fruition in

1964.32 With each of the three heads representing a geographic direction for China to spread its

influence (East Asia/Korea/Japan, Southeast Asia/Vietnam, and Central Asia/Kashmir), the

comparison to Ghidrah is appropriate.

However, it can also be said that the film is Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra representing

SEATO, the South-East Asian Treaty Organization, or more broadly, the development of

international cooperative alliances as a whole. As Kalat argues that Ghidrah represents the

People’s Republic of China (PRC), this thesis argues that the other kaiju represent SEATO by

aligning together for a common goal of defeating the threat. Closely following the interpretation

of Ghidrah as the spreading power of Communism in Asia, the representation of the allied

monsters as the member nations of SEATO helps support both interpretations. SEATO, formed

in 1954 by the United States and several other Asian nations, such as Thailand and the

Philippines to counter the spread of Communism through Asia.33 In the film, the only option to

defeat the threat that is Ghidrah is for the kaiju to work together and create a “bulwark” against its streak of terror. Though Japan is not a member nation, the representation of the organization as an alliance of monsters united against a common threat can be read in Ghidrah, the Three-

Headed Monster and also represents the growing threat that China played in the region. Japan’s

absence of membership from SEATO also helps solidify this metaphor, as Japan was shown as

31 Jones, 446-449. 32 Ibid., 402-404. 33 Ibid., 238-241. 47 the main battleground between the monster alliance and Ghidrah and would also likely be the same in the event of a war with China.

With some notable exceptions, the Godzilla franchise gradually lost much of the heavy didacticism of its earlier plotlines that focused on nuclear war and Cold War issues. This was due in part to Toho Studios wanting to shift its focus to lighter entertainment for its most direct and growing demographic: adolescent boys. Godzilla began to appear less as the villain, as it had been throughout the early Shōwa films, and more as a hero that would save Japan from other threats. Nonetheless, the films continued to be a forum for imparting certain social messages and political themes that can be speculatively gleaned from these films. These could not be totally discarded. After all, having created Godzilla as a symbol of atomic warfare, the franchise could not shake the nuclear subtext. Just a year following the release of Ghidrah, Toho released a

“sequel” in 1965 titled Invasion of Astromonster (or The Giant Monster War) in Japan and

Monster Zero in the United States. The film begins with two astronauts, the Japanese Fuji and the American Glenn, being sent to the mysterious “Planet X” to meet with a race of humanoid aliens known as Xiliens. Soon after meeting their extraterrestrial hosts, the astronauts are brought into their underground fortress due to an attack from a monster that the Xiliens call “Monster

Zero.” The astronauts immediately recognize the monster as Ghidrah and return to Earth with a request from the Xiliens to send Godzilla and Rodan to Planet X to battle the monster plaguing them. Though this film cut Mothra from its list of battling monsters, the Xiliens eventually visit

Earth, taking a sleeping Godzilla and Rodan with them to successfully battle Ghidrah. However, soon after the battle, the Xiliens reveal their plan was to capture all three monsters and put them under mind control to force Earth to surrender to them. This plan is eventually thwarted when

Fuji and Glenn find out a high-frequency tone emitted from a local inventor’s machine will break 48

the mind control, letting the monsters loose to fight each other instead and forcing the Xiliens to

commit mass suicide. With the Earth saved and Ghidrah flying back into space, Fuji and Glenn

are returned to Planet X to study the alien world further.34

In many ways, Invasion of Astromonster is a continuation of Ghidrah: The Three Headed

Monster in terms of characters, images, and themes. Though Mothra is not included in this film,

Godzilla and Rodan are shown teaming together and fighting Ghidrah to protect Earth, with many scenes being simply cut and pasted from the previous film in an effort to reduce production costs. Setting aside the often laughable special effects and scenes of filler action, including one where Godzilla performs a victory dance following his battle with Ghidrah, several themes and messages can be discerned. Again, Ghidrah represents fears of an expanding China that desires to establish regional hegemony in Asia, only being stopped by the efforts of a “monster” or kaiju coalition. However, many new themes appear within the film as well, whether intentionally or not. Notably, this film is the first in the series to utilize the theme of alien invasion and space, a theme that would appear in later installments. As Ghidrah and the Xiliens hailed from space and posed a threat to all humanity, parallels can be drawn between them and the “space race” that was being conducted between the United States and the Soviet Union.

This space race began with the launching of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union in

1957 which was followed by a series of projects and efforts by both nations to outpace each other and reach further into space.35 The launching of Sputnik and the beginning of the space

race was a shock to many Americans and their allies, who had assumed before 1957 that the US

held a major technological and military advantage over the Soviet Union.36 A belief arose that if

34 Invasion of Astromonster, directed by Ishirō Honda (Toho, 1965), DVD. 35 Zuoyue Wang, In Sputnik's Shadow : The President's Science Advisory Committee and Cold War America (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008), 13. 36 Ibid., 71. 49

the Soviet Union could launch a satellite into space well before the United States, they could also

launch an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) at America without recourse. This sent the

US into a scramble to reassume the scientific and technological advantage that it had striven to

maintain before Sputnik, employing thousands of scientists and engineers to various

governmental agencies to develop technology for space exploration. Started by the Presidential

Science Advisory Committee under the Eisenhower administration, space exploration in the

United States stemmed less from pure interest and studying of science and more from a competitive attempt to defeat the Soviet Union on another front.37 Furthermore, connections can

be made between the film’s American astronaut character Glenn and real-life astronaut John

Glenn, who was the first American to orbit Earth aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. As both figures

represent a convergence of minds to accomplish amazing feats of space exploration, the

connection is clear and further shows a connection to the space race. Of course, the film could

not predict that the United States would ultimately “win” the space race by being the first nation

to put a man on the moon with the Apollo 13 mission, but referencing the space race that was

being conducted in the 1960s highlights the influence of concurrent attitudes on themes within.

Additionally, the theme of mind control appears in this film as being perpetrated by the

Xiliens, the same enemy that was attacking Earth from space. Similarly to other films of the time

that explore this idea, such as The Manchurian Candidate (1962), this theme plays on the

persisting paranoia that “sleeper agents” and brainwashed infiltrators were being sent by the

Soviet Union and China to clandestinely topple democratic nations.38 Furthermore, the idea of

brainwashing is simultaneously a critique and commentary on the perceived brainwashing and

37 Ibid., 155. 38 Margot A. Henriksen, Dr. Strangelove’s America: Society and Culture in the Atomic Age (Berkeley: University of California, 1997), 265-267. 50

propagandization of citizens by their governments to believe and think in ways conducive to a

continuation of that regime, notably the anticommunist hysteria that gripped the West.39 This

hysteria, most notably perpetrated by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the United States, did little to

soothe the people about the growth of communism, in fact quite the opposite.

Though it is a stretch to compare Invasion of Astromonster to The Manchurian

Candidate, the presence of mind control themes allows for some comparisons to be drawn

between the two films and to real-world hysteria. As this mind control is undertaken by aliens, it

is easy for audiences to connect them as metaphors for the psychological torture of American

POWs by Communist Chinese forces during the Korean War. Such themes, brought from similar

American films involving mind control by alien invaders, most notably Invasion of the Body

Snatchers (1956), were considered hand-in-hand with those derived from paranoia surrounding

the proliferation of nuclear weapons stockpiles and their development, which could be used to

destroy the world, much like the aliens in the film.40 If the mightiest monsters from Earth could

be brought under the mind control of evil aliens, the same could be done to citizens and national

leaders by China or the Soviet Union, leading to total control over Japan by a foreign aggressor.

Though considered a laughable and easily forgettable installment in the Godzilla franchise,

Invasion of Astromonster utilized many existing ideas, such as Communist expansion and the

growth of the Cold War, and introduced many new themes to the series that would be used

further in later films.

Returning to the core theme of nuclear fears and the proliferation of atomic weapons,

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep delves into the growing concern of terrorists gaining the means to

39 Ibid., 268. 40 David Seed, American Science Fiction and the Cold War: Literature and Film (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999), 132. 51

produce and sell nuclear weapons. The film begins with a man named Ryota being accompanied

by several friends and a bank robber on a stolen yacht to find his brother Yata, who was lost at

sea. However, while searching for Yata, the yacht is attacked by Ebirah, a giant lobster-like

creature (though, oddly, ebi means “shrimp” in Japanese). The yacht and its crew then wash

ashore on Letchi Island, which is occupied by the terrorist group Red Bamboo, who are engaged

in the production of heavy water for the development of atomic weapons. The Red Bamboo are

also found to be employing a mysterious yellow liquid to control Ebirah and use the monster to

enforce their will, with the group enslaving natives from the nearby Infant Island to produce the

liquid. With the help of an enslaved native girl, the group find and awaken Godzilla to defeat the

terrorist group and Ebirah to find Yata and make their escape. During the battle, Godzilla

destroys part of the Red Bamboo base, starting a countdown to the detonation of a nuclear

weapon that will destroy the island. After Godzilla defeats the Ebirah by ripping its massive

claws off, Mothra arrives to rescue the natives that worship it, but is challenged to a battle by

Godzilla. Momentarily repelling Godzilla, Mothra manages to pick up the natives and the

protagonists, taking them back to Infant Island while Godzilla manages to escape the island just

before it explodes. Like nuclear energy, Godzilla shows a moral ambivalence, able to be used for

good and nefarious purposes. However, the kaiju is not easily controlled, always proving to be

unpredictable and dangerous.41

Harkening back to the original Gojira film released in 1954, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep possesses the clear themes of nuclear fear and the dangers of nuclear proliferation. Similar to themes utilized in other films at the time like Dr. No (1964) where terrorists plan to use nuclear weapons to begin a nuclear war, Ebirah relies heavily on fears of non-state actors gaining

41 Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, directed by Jun Fukuda (Toho, 1966), DVD. 52 nuclear weapons and attacking Japan and other nations.42 It is clear that Ebirah relied heavily on creating the terrorist organization Red Bamboo as similar to SPECTRE from the Bond films, having the organization operating from a secret base and planning to exploit fears of the Cold

War.43 An attack from the Soviet Union could be detected, monitored, and hopefully prevented, but an attack from terrorists could come at any time anywhere without warning. Ebirah itself is a personification of this literally subliminal fear, with its body never fully appearing above the surface of the water. Where Godzilla is a clear and present threat, having been created from a US hydrogen bomb, Ebirah represents a hidden menace in the form of terrorist access to nuclear weapons.44 As Red Bamboo develops and uses its heavy water plant in the film, they also use the menace that is Ebirah to strike out and attacks Japanese sea vessels without warning. The main human protagonists in the film are by all means common, law-abiding citizens (save for the bank robber), pulled into the story and circumstances by chance and put in harm’s way seemingly from the arrogance and disregard of Red Bamboo, similarly to how civilians would be targeted in a nuclear attack. Additionally, Godzilla is shown in the film sleeping, an ominous warning of what could happen if the nuclear beast is awakened and set loose due to the actions of a non-state actor that gained control of nuclear weapons.45

Released one year after Ebirah, 1967’s Son of Godzilla similarly places a heavy focus on children and adolescents as the primary audience. While there are still important thematic elements within the film that connect to the Cold War, more focus is placed on didactic messages and attempting to “teach” the adolescent audience. The film begins with scientists testing an experimental radioactive weather balloon on an island in an attempt to change the

42 Spencer R. Weart, Nuclear Fear: A History of Images (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1988), 280. 43 Galbraith and Hayes, 122. 44 Ibid. 45 Kalat, 89. 53 weather, which inexplicably explodes due to a mysterious signal and subsequently creates a radioactive storm. When the storm passes and the scientists are able to investigate the island, it is found that the storm had irradiated a population of already large praying mantises to giant proportions. These mantises, called “Kamacuras” (derived from the Japanese word for mantis kamakiri), are found to be digging up a giant egg on the island, which hatches to reveal an infant

Godzilla, called “Minira” (a portmanteau of “mini” and “Godzilla”). Realizing that Minira’s calls to its parent were the source of the mysterious signal, the scientists scramble indoors as Godzilla arrives to the island to save its child, killing several of the Kamacuras in the process. Following the fight, Godzilla attempts to teach the baby various skills that can be used in battle, finding that motivation and encouragement help the child to learn more quickly. However, when attempting to use its new skills to fight some of the Kamacuras, Minira inadvertently awakens a giant spider,

“Kumonga” (from the root kumo meaning “spider” in Japanese). As Minira and Godzilla work together to defeat the spider, the scientists manage to successfully launch their weather system and escape the island aboard an American submarine as the island becomes buried in ice and snow, causing the giant monsters to enter a state of hibernation.46

While there are themes concerning nuclear radiation and the inadvertent effects of man attempting to alter nature, much of Son of Godzilla’s value lies in the didactic lessons that

Godzilla imparts on Minira, such as developing self-confidence and working with others.

Though Minira itself is an arguably embarrassing and laughable addition to the Godzilla franchise, with a strange face and awkwardly puffy body, not unlike that of a human infant, the lessons that Godzilla attempts to teach Minira are an attempt by Toho to continue its tradition of slipping didactic lessons into the film targeting its child and adolescent audience.

46 Son of Godzilla, directed by Jun Fukuda (Toho, 1967), DVD. 54

This focus on the adolescent population of Japan has historical context in a developing

Japan in the mid-20th Century. In the several decades following the conclusion of the U.S. occupation of Japan, Japan refocused and realigned its education system to allow for greater opportunity for its youth.47 Education reform in Japan was even written into its new constitution, with each citizen having “the right to receive an equal education correspondent to their ability, as provided of law.”48 This reforming of education is arguably represented within Son of Godzilla with Godzilla acting as a parent/teacher and instructing its student Minira on proper ways to be a monster, essentially how to be successful in a changing world. With greater education opportunities comes greater financial and occupational opportunities, such as was the case in

Japan at the time. Additionally, the targeting of mostly young boys as an audience highlights the changing family dynamics that many working class people in Japan were experiencing at the time. The development of so-called “nuclear families,” patterned after examples in the United

States, became the dominant form of familial organization within Japan in the 1970’s.49 Though

Godzilla and it son would be considered a non-traditional family by contemporary standards, with a single parent raising its son, the alignment of family values and ways of thinking within

Japan at the time are evident in Son of Godzilla. To a lesser extent, there was also a rise in single- member households in Japan at the time, highlighting changing ideas of what family meant and how Japan was changing culturally.50 Serving as the dutiful parent that wants to see its son become successful, Godzilla both encourages and motivates the child in numerous ways.

Although this film was, and still is, considered one of the worst installments in the Godzilla

47 Dower, 244. 48 Ibid., 392. 49 Gordon, 254. 50 Ibid. 55

franchise, the parental and pedagogical themes within Son of Godzilla highlight a changing

Japanese society and familial norms in the late 1960’s.

In an effort to revive the dying Godzilla series following the unsuccessful release of Son

of Godzilla, Toho Studios brought Ishirō Honda back a year later in 1968 to direct Monster All-

Out Attack (also known as Destroy All Monsters).51 Additionally, as David Kalat notes in A

Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series, conflicts started to arise between

writer Shinichi Sekizawa and Ishiro Honda concerning the direction of the series. Sekizawa, the

writer onset Son of Godzilla and Ebirah, wanted to move the films in a much more “absurd” and

child-focused direction, whereas Honda wanted to retain the pacifist and anti-nuclear themes that

were present in previous installments.52This film shows the United Nations Science Committee

(UNSC) in 1999 as capturing and confining all the world’s kaiju on an island known as “Monster

Island,” from which they are able to monitor and study them. This confinement of the monsters

on the island allows the world to finally achieve peace, enabling them to not worry about the

monsters randomly arriving and attacking their cities and countries. However, communications

with the island go dark and the monsters manage to escape the island, attacking several major

world cities like London, Moscow, and New York. It is revealed that the scientists on the island

were brought under the mind control of an alien race known as the Kilaaks, who were using the

monsters as a distraction so they could attack Japan and establish a base near Mt. Fuji. However,

the UNSC are able to deduce that the mind-control signal is being emitted from the Kilaaks’

secret lunar base, which is destroyed by a space crew and thus enables the UNSC to regain

control of the monsters. With the monsters now turned on the alien invaders, the Kilaaks

51 Hereafter, this film will be referred to as Destroy All Monsters to align with existing scholarship and avoid confusion with the later All Monsters Attack (a.k.a. Godzilla’s Revenge). 52 Kalat, 98. 56

desperately call for Ghidrah to fly from space and rescue them. Though a hard battle, Godzilla,

Minira, Mothra, Rodan, Gorosaurus, Anguirus, and the Kumonga under the control of the UNSC

are eventually able to kill Ghidrah, but only before the Kilaaks call in their other monster called

the Fire Dragon that starts to burn down Tokyo, destroying the UNSC’s monster control base.

Though the situation looks grim, Godzilla instinctively attacks and destroys the alien base while

the humans attack and defeat the Fire Dragon, which is revealed as a flaming flying saucer. With

the world saved, the monsters return to their island to live in peace.53

Though intended as a simple monster mash-up to appeal to the series’ adolescent audience, several important socio-political themes can be gleaned from this film, whether they were in themselves intentional or not. Firstly, the efforts undertaken by the United Nations in the film to confine all the monsters on one island to be monitored can be read as the efforts by several nations to address nuclear proliferation and to place limitations on nuclear testing, which echoes treaties such as the Limited Nuclear Test Ban of 1963, which was introduced five years prior to the release of Monsters All-Out Attack, to limit the testing and use of nuclear weapons.54

Signed the same year as the release of this film, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of

1968 was focused on limiting the number of nations that had access to nuclear arms in an attempt to prevent all-out nuclear war and the threat of such a conflict.55 Additionally, although they

came about after the release of this film, the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I and II)

and Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty of the 1970’s indicated that the world was willing to

reduce its dependence on nuclear arms and nuclear deterrence.56 As the monsters serve as

53 Destroy All Monsters, directed by Ishirō Honda (Toho, 1968), DVD. 54 John Lewis Gaddis, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 280. 55 Weart, The Rise of Nuclear Fear, 161. 56 Ian Jackson, “Economics in the Cold War,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War, edited by Richard H. Immerman and Petra Goedde (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 58-59. 57

representations and personifications of nuclear weapons throughout the Godzilla series, the

nations of the world uniting in this film to corral them and monitor them from a single location

can be interpreted as the international turn towards implementing these historical treaties and the

prevailing world sentiments towards achieving peace on Earth. By keeping these monsters in one

location away from any other nation that could “use” them, the film shows that the world is

finally able to achieve total peace, something that could occur if nuclear proliferation were

halted.

At the same time, the Kilaaks’ ability to hijack the monitoring station and gain control of

the monsters highlights fears throughout the Cold War world that nuclear weapons could be used

or detonated at any time by a nation or non-state terrorist group.57 Similarly to the Red Bamboo in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, the Kilaaks act as an outside group that obtains access to the world’s deadliest creatures and sets them upon the various national capitals of the Earth. Fears during the Cold War consisted mainly of the effects of the onset of nuclear war by a nation, whether it be the Soviet Union or United States, and how easy such a conflict could come about.

American films, like Dr. Strangelove (1964) and Fail Safe (1964), play on the idea of a rogue nuclear attack setting off an all-out nuclear apocalypse by examining how a simple flip of a switch or mechanical malfunction could plunge the world into a nuclear holocaust.58 In these

films, as with Destroy All Monsters, the blame is focused less on the mechanical errors or

hijacking itself, but more so on the humans that created the weapons in the first place. Had the

United States and Soviet Union not created these monsters by testing nuclear weapons, there

would be no apparent danger and the Kilaaks could not have succeeded.

57 Weart, Nuclear Fear, 278-279. 58 Henriksen, 338-339. 58

Once again utilizing Ishirō Honda as director, All Monsters Attack (also known as

Godzilla’s Revenge in the United States) was released a year following Destroy All Monsters and

is a departure from many of the films within the series.59 This film deals less with nuclear themes and ideas from the Cold War but explores didactic themes and imparting lessons on children.

The film’s protagonist is a young boy named Ichiro, who is bullied after school and returns home every day to his family’s empty apartment. As his only friends are a toymaker named Shinpei and a girl named Sachiko, Ichiro often escapes his lonely life by dreaming of visiting Monster

Island to watch Godzilla battle monsters. In one particular daydream, Ichiro meets Minira, who, it is revealed, is also being bullied by a giant monster called Gabara. As the adventurous dream ends, Ichiro awakens to find that his mother is working late and will not be able to see him again.

Saddened, Ichiro goes outside to play before being chased into an abandoned factory by his bully, Sanko Gabara. The similarity between the two bullies names’ draws a comparison and connection between the two characters, effectively saying that Ichiro and Minira live in similar circumstances and can commiserate about them. Before running home from the factory, Ichiro finds the wallet of a bank robber, who follows him to kidnap him in order to keep his identity secret. After eating dinner at home, Ichiro again falls asleep and dreams of visiting monster island. There, Minira is again shown being bullied by Gabara before Godzilla attempts to teach its child how to fight back against its oppressor. Being awakened by the bank robber that followed him, Ichiro is then held in captivity and falls back asleep to help Minira and Godzilla defeat Gabara. From this dream, Ichiro is able to figure out a way to outwit the bank robber, alert

59 Hereafter, this film will be referred to by its American title, Godzilla’s Revenge for the same reasons as Destroy All Monsters. 59

the police, and eventually face his own bullies. This series of events gives Ichiro a new sense of

confidence and pride in himself, now knowing that he can stand up for himself.60

Much like the earlier Son of Godzilla, this film is less concerned with themes of nuclear

war and the Cold War than other installments, and instead focuses on pedagogical themes for the

youth of Japan who were driving ticket sales. Although it is often regarded by many film critics

as the worst film in the entire series, with Stuart Galbraith and R.M. Hayes calling it, “a tiresome

film and a great disappointment following the much superior Destroy All Monsters,” the lessons

Ishirō Honda and Toho attempt to impart upon their audience of children are nonetheless

noteworthy and effective.61 As familial relations were changing in Japan at the time, perhaps most notably seeing an increase in the number of single-member households rising to 14% by

1975, it became Toho’s “task” to act in a parental role towards Japan’s children, whether this was intended or not.62 As many of the children who were viewing these films had simply been

dropped off by their busy parents, they were much like Ichiro in the film, not being able to spend

time or connect to their parents in any substantive way.63 The lessons of having confidence, defending oneself, and doing what is right made an impression on the young viewers that likely hoped to emulate Godzilla and behave like their giant lizard hero.

Furthermore, Ichiro’s parents, who are always absent in the film, are an example of emerging work culture in Japan at the time that demanded employees work extra to carry the weight of the company.64 Where two-thirds of people in Japan had held positions at family- owned business in the late 1950s, this number had dropped to slightly under half a decade later.65

60 Godzilla’s Revenge, directed by Ishirō Honda (Toho, 1969), DVD. 61 Galbraith and Hayes, 185. 62 Gordon, 254. 63 Tsutsui, 56. 64 Gordon, 255. 65 Ibid., 254. 60

This dramatically shifted the Japanese home and meant that parents were more often absent from the lives of their children. Though the amount of nuclear and Cold War themes that had existed in earlier films were less present in Godzilla’s Revenge, the pedagogical function of the film was centered on the adolescent audience that Toho targeted. Though not an eerie horror film focused on the effects of nuclear radiation, Godzilla’s Revenge, nonetheless, exhibits clear messages for the youth of Japan about proper ways to act and behave.

While dealing less with nuclear fallout and more with the threat of pollution, Godzilla vs

Hedorah is the eleventh film in the series and is a surprising change from the poor production quality and fractured plotlines that characterized the previous several films released. While the plot still has notable weaknesses and shortcomings, such as Godzilla being shown flying after

Hedorah by using its atomic fire breath as a propellant, the film nonetheless contains a strong and overt didactic message that many of the previous installments lacked. Opening with scenes of pollution clouding the ocean and songs calling for people to save the earth, the film’s plot involves a mysterious monster known as Hedorah being created from the sea by a combination of nuclear radiation and industrial pollution. With the ability to gain strength from the smog emitted from factories, Hedorah embarked on a rampage across Japan, releasing toxic fumes and contaminating water along the way. Able to mutate to shamble and fly around, the beast rampages unopposed and threatened to destroy the world with copious amounts of pollution. In an effort to halt the spread of pollution and the threat faced by Hedorah, the youth of Japan organize a concert to protest pollution, until they are killed by the smog monster in a rare showing of brutality by Toho. As the JSDF emplace electrodes to electrify and hold Hedorah in place, Godzilla is able to defeat the monster by desiccating it and scattering its remains. 61

Following the battle and having lost an eye in the fighting, Godzilla returns home to the still polluted Ocean, symbolizing man’s blindness and arrogance to his own destruction.66

Figure 3: Godzilla battling the monstrous Hedorah. Source: Tom Simpson, “Godzilla attacking Hedorah in Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971),” Flickr, uploaded February 20, 2019, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gameraboy/32215338897.

The obvious message of the threat of pollution is abundant throughout this film, personified by a destructive monster that means to threaten the world with its proliferation of smog and toxic sludge. The film also offers continued discussion of the effects of radiation, as

Hedorah is created when nuclear waste irradiates toxic sludge, but most of the focus is on pollution and climate change and not the nuclear threat. When taking this into account, Godzilla vs. Hedorah shines through as a parallel to the original Gojira, maintaining an impactful social message throughout its runtime, rather than simply showing two actors dressed as monsters wrestle each other for the enjoyment of adolescents.67 Shown as a threat to the youth and children of Japan, the pollution that is represented by Hedorah is shown as a threat for the future, especially as it is not completely dealt with at the resolution of the film. This shows an underlying mentality present in not only Japan, but in many nations of the world at the time and their frustration at the growing amount of pollution that still exists in the contemporary age. By not giving the monster any origin or source, the film places the blame of pollution on the entire

66 Godzilla vs. Hedorah, directed by Yoshimitsu Banno (Toho, 1971), DVD. 67 Kalat, 114. 62

world as an entity, rather than squarely on one nation, effectively stating that curbing climate

change and pollution should be an international objective.68 As the JSDF is unable to defeat the

monster, the film implies that all the military power in the world cannot stop the effects of heavy

industrial pollution and that it is the collective people of the world that must do so. By arguing

this, the film conveys that pollution had become a world epidemic, being caused by the lack of

concern of the world to protect itself.

Contrasting many of the other Godzilla films in the series, save the first, this film is meant as a call to action for Japan to reduce pollution and save the world. Though critically panned and often regarded as one of the worst installments of the series, this film nonetheless speaks to a dire issue plaguing Japan at the time. In actuality, Japan had been facing what had been dubbed a “polluter’s paradise” in the 1960s-1970s, with many industrial and manufacturing companies openly polluting many of Japan’s water ways and coastal areas.69 Fish and seafood were found to possess lethal levels of mercury, causing significant numbers of what was called

“Minamata Syndrome” in the people, a neurologically debilitating disease brought on by mercury poisoning.70 In several factories in the city of Minamata, mercury was used as a catalyst

in chemical production, the byproducts of these processes being discharged into marine

ecosystems and infecting the food gathered from these biomes.71 As an island nation, much of

Japan’s food source comes primarily from the ocean as fish and seafood, causing this threat to be

monumental. This particular contamination caused severe birth defects and brain damage to

those unfortunately affected by this Minamata Syndrome.72 As the monster was awakened and

68 Sean Rhoads and Brooke McCorkle, Japan’s Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018), 116-117. 69 Ibid., 106-107. 70 Ibid., 107. 71 Brett L. Walker, Toxic Archipelago : A History of Industrial Disease in Japan (Seattle, University of Washington Press, 2010), 137. 72 Ibid., 140. 63

mutated by the combination of pollution and nuclear material, the film also examines underlying

radioactive fallout that had been a concern in Japan since 1945 and was a continued mainstay for

the franchise. In doing so, the film explores the mind of Japan at the time, calling its people to

action so they may tackle the issue that had been plaguing the environment and had begun to

infest Japan.

The next two films in the series, Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) and Godzilla vs. Megalon

(1973), unfortunately both suffer from weak plot lines and few numbers of salient themes based upon their concurrent settings. Unlike the important themes in Hedorah that writer Takeshi

Shimura wanted to portray, both Gigan and Megalon were written by Shinichi Sekizawa, who was known for writing in ridiculous and weak plots.73 The main appearing monsters are still

considered personifications of fears surrounding weapons of mass-destruction, but that is the

extent of their influence and historical meaning. In 1972, under the Nixon administration, the

United States and Soviet Union agreed upon the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and

began to explore higher degrees of trade contact, policies which became part of a period known

as détente.74 With these agreements and the main rivals of the Cold War reaching a greater

degree of tolerance towards each other, the world heaved a tremendous, though temporary, sigh

of relief. The Cold War, at least for the time being, started to become a degree more peaceful

than it was a decade earlier. Though nuclear arms were still a reality and détente would

ultimately end several years later following the Trade Reform Bill of 1974, this meant that the

Godzilla films were temporarily not influenced by the times in which they were created.75

73 As stated previously by David Kalat, Sekizawa and Honda had disagreements and tensions about this very issue concerning Sekizawa’s writing. This change to Sekizawa as writer is evident in the plots of these films, which are incredibly disparate in their attempts to invoke socio-political change. 74 Jackson, 58-59. 75 Ibid., 59. 64

Figure 4: An American advertisement for Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972). Source: Tom Simpson, “Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972),” Flickr, uploaded on August 13, 2018, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gameraboy/30148525768/in/album-72157698532573351/. With the notable exceptions of references to deadly pollution in Godzilla vs. Gigan and

nuclear weapons testing being conducted in the Baltic Sea during Godzilla vs. Megalon that

served as pretexts for the plotlines within the two films, these films made little to no use of the

thematic elements that had been woven into earlier films’ plots. Atmospheric nuclear testing in

the Baltic had previously been banned in 1963 with the signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty,

meaning that these prospects were as science-fiction as the monsters on screen.76 so there was

Furthermore, the economic success that had defined postwar Japan came into full swing at the beginning of the 1970s, with much of Japan embracing a newfound commercial culture that had before been only relegated to middle-class urban populations.77 With these in mind, and the plots

falling too far within the realm of children’s movies, further exploration of these two films is

largely unnecessary. As neither of these installments make impactful statements and references

to the Cold War, they fit in a juxtaposed position against the broader franchise that was known

76 Weart, The Rise of Nuclear Fear, 151-152. In theory, these tests were easily detectable due to seismographs and devices that could detect the radioactive fallout drifting downwind from their detonation. 77 Gordon, 264. 65 for possessing these very themes. In a way, these films do highlight the times, in that they appeared at the time as a lull in the growing conflict between “East and West,” but because of this stand out as lacking the themes that aided other films.

The first of these two films, Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), features several monsters that had been mainstays within the series and featured in previous films, like Anguirus and Ghidrah, along with the addition of Gigan, a giant cyborg monster with claws for hands and a saw protruding from its chest. The story begins with a race of insectoid aliens planning to invade

Earth after their own home world is deemed uninhabitable due to irreparable pollution, using the space monsters Gigan and Ghidrah to kill all human life and make way for invasion. Disguising themselves as humans, the aliens establish a forward base disguised as a theme park complete with a “Godzilla Tower” that houses a giant laser cannon. However, their plans are foiled when artist Gengo, who was hired as a concept artist for the park, finds and plays a mind-control tape meant for Gigan and Ghidrah, which arouses the suspicions of Godzilla and Anguirus. Godzilla sends Anguirus to investigate, but the monster is repulsed by the JSDF who misunderstand

Anguirus’ intentions, in turn causing him to return with Godzilla to eventually fight Gigan and

Ghidrah. In the ensuing fight, the aliens attempt to use the laser cannon hidden within the

“Godzilla Tower” to kill Godzilla but are again thwarted by the fast-acting Gengo and his friends, who manage to force the aliens to accidentally destroy themselves and their cannon.

With Godzilla and Anguirus victorious, thanks to their human companions, Gigan and Ghidrah retreat back into space and humanity is safe once again.78

Following a similar plot progression to Godzilla vs. Gigan, 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon begins with an underwater civilization of humanoids, called Seatopia, seeking vengeance upon

78 Godzilla vs. Gigan, directed by Jun Fukuda (Toho, 1972), DVD. 66 the surface world for underwater earthquakes caused by the detonations of nuclear weapons in the Aleutian Islands. The Seatopians send Megalon, a giant insect-like god monster, to destroy the cities of the surface, notably those in Japan. Additionally, the Seatopians establish a forward base from which to conduct their operations by drying up a lake where inventor Goro, his nephew Rokuro, and his friend Hiroshi are fishing. The trio are ambushed by the water dwellers, who hope to steal their giant robot named Jet Jaguar, but the inventors are able to escape and warn of the invasion. However, the Seatopians are successful in stealing Jet Jaguar, which they in turn use to direct Megalon against Japan while Goro and his nephew are sent to be executed by the invaders. With two giant monsters now being used to attack Tokyo, the JSDF prove no match for the combined forces of Megalon and Jet Jaguar. In what appears to be Japan’s darkest hour, the trio manages to escape their captors just in time to unite forces with the JSDF, regaining control of Jet Jaguar and using it to fight Gigan, who is now accompanied by Megalon, and warn Godzilla of the attack. What was once an even match quickly looks grim for the giant robot, who is now tasked with single-handedly battling both Gigan and Megalon. When Godzilla eventually arrives, the lopsided battle turns in favor of Jet Jaguar and the giant lizard, who manage to force their foes to retreat. With the Seatopians’ plan in ruins and Gigan and Megalon vanquished, Godzilla and the now free-thinking Jet Jaguar bid farewell to each other and part ways, with Jet Jaguar shrinking to a human size.79

Where the previous two films had little to recommend regarding thematic elements, the final two films in the Shōwa period directly involved the hazards and dangers of technological development. As they follow similar plot lines and themes, they will be examined in depth here together. The first film, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), begins with a priestess on Okinawa

79 Godzilla vs. Megalon, directed by Jun Fukuda (Toho, 1973), DVD. 67 having a strange vision of a city being destroyed by a giant monster at the same time that spelunkers discover a strange metal in a cave on the island. Further investigating the cave, explorers find a chamber filled with idols resembling the legendary monster King Caesar, a giant lion, and a supposed prophecy about two monsters saving the world when a black mountain appears and an eclipse occurs. Eventually, a black cloud resembling a mountain appears followed by Godzilla emerging from Mount Fuji to attack Tokyo, despite the newfound tolerance the giant monster has with humans. Anguirus arrives on the scene to fight Godzilla, but is nearly killed in the battle and escapes, reveling a metallic shine underneath Godzilla’s skin. As Godzilla continues its rampage, another Godzilla appears and fights what is now revealed to be an imposter; the giant robot called Mechagodzilla that was wearing a Godzilla disguise and utilizing advanced weaponry that reveals it to be alien in nature. The fight between the two monsters ends in a stalemate with each inflicting serious damage upon the other, while the excavators who uncovered the King Caesar idols are attacked by apelike aliens from the “Third Planet of the

Black Hole,” who were using Mechagodzilla to conquer Earth. As an eclipse draws closer, the excavators call upon the Okinawan priestess to awaken King Caesar and save the world from

Mechagodzilla. Teaming up with Godzilla, the two make short work of the giant robot, tearing off its head and causing it to explode while the humans manage to destroy the aliens’ base. Earth is saved once again due to the combined efforts of Godzilla, his human allies, and King Caesar.80

Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), nominally a sequel to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and

Ishirō Honda’s final Godzilla film as director, follows along similar themes and ideas before concluding the Shōwa Series. The film begins with Interpol agents scouring the bottom of the sea in search of the pieces of Mechagodzilla, which had settled there after the battle with Godzilla

80 Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, directed by Jun Fukuda (Toho, 1975). 68

and King Caesar, hoping to learn something about the aliens who had created it. It is revealed

that the alien race is known as the Simeons, just before the investigating crew aboard a

submarine is attacked by the sea monster Titanosaurus and then vanish. The monster is tracked

and discovered to have been sent by a mad scientist who wants to destroy the world with the help

of the aliens and their new Mechagodzilla Mark-2. However, a romance develops between one of the Interpol agents and the daughter of the mad scientist, who is revealed to be a cyborg and helps the agent learn that supersonic waves are able to stop Titanosaurus. As Titanosaurus attacks Japan, Interpol sets up a supersonic weapon able to knock it out, but the device is sabotaged by the cyborg daughter who is under the control of the aliens. With both Titanosaurus and Mechagodzilla 2 on an unstoppable rampage, even Godzilla appears to be initially outmatched before Interpol is able to repair its weapon. As the battle takes place, Interpol agents infiltrate the aliens’ base, killing many of them and the cyborg daughter that acts as

Mechagodzilla 2’s controller. Now able to destroy the giant robot and defeat Titanosaurus,

Godzilla throws Mechagodzilla 2 into a chasm and buries its pieces using its atomic fire breath.

With the world saved from the devastating power of the aliens and Mechagodzilla, Godzilla returns to the ocean for a final time and concludes the Shōwa Series of films.81

Both of these films together deal heavily in themes involving the development of science

and technology, an idea both embraced and feared within the Japan at the time. On one hand,

Japan by 1975 was embracing a rising economy spurred by science and technological

developments, a period often called the “era of high speed growth” and an “economic miracle”.82

Coupled with several other factors, such as the massive manufacturing of technological

consumer goods, by 1975 this “miracle” had transformed Japan into the second most powerful

81 Terror of Mechagodzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda (Toho, 1975), DVD. 82 Gordon, 243. 69

economy behind the United States, with a gross domestic product (GDP) reaching $498.2

billion.83 Facilitated with the help of the United States, Japan under Emperor Hirohito

transformed its wartime and industry production during the Second World War into the tools

necessary to its peaceful growth, with the development of science and technology as its focus.84

This development of science and technology had a heavy basis in how Japanese

governmental and military officials rationalized their defeat by the United States in World War

II. Echoing these ideas, Prime Minister Suzuki Kantarō stated in a 1945 radio address, “From

now on, we need to develop science-technology, because that was our weakest point during this

war.”85 This development of science and technology is recognizable in both Mechagodzilla

films, as it was science employed by the human protagonists that enabled Godzilla to come away

victorious in both situations. Though reflective more of wartime development of “big-science”

weapons, such as those by both the United States and Japan, the supersonic weapon employed by

Interpol in the second film reflects the growth of development and manufacturing of technology

in Japan at the time. Much like other installments to the franchise, the military in these two films

proves impotent at stopping the monsters, whereas science is seen as the only method by which

Japan can be ultimately saved. Although the oil crisis had temporarily weakened Japan’s

economy from 1973-1975, the incorporation of science and technology to produce Japan’s

booming economy in the preceding decades is a direct influence on the themes within these two

films.86

83 Ibid., 244-246. 84 Hiromi Mizuno, Science for the Empire: Scientific Nationalism in Modern Japan (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2009), 173. 85 Ibid. 86 Gordon, 245. 70

Conversely, Mechagodzilla itself represents fears and apprehensions within Japan

towards the development of science and technology at the time. As stated previously, many

people in Japan recognized that it was science, not military might, that ultimately defeated Japan

in the Second World War.87 With this in mind, it is easy to see that Mechagodzilla, a scientific

monstrosity derived from the beast created from atomic weapons tests, is a personification of this

fear towards science. The ape-like aliens (which appear to be an attempt to capitalize on the

success of the 1968 release of Planet of the Apes and its sequels), are displayed as malicious brutes that want nothing less than to see mankind destroyed with the use of technology.88 This

reflects the heavy resentment towards the United States maintained by many Japanese people

following the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was directed

mainly towards American military and political leadership of the time.89

In these films, the United States and its development of technology before and during the

Cold War is represented by the Simian aliens and Mechagodzilla is the technology itself. The ape-like aliens can be argued as a critique and metaphor for the US, which was seen as a brutish and ape-like society that was able to wield insanely powerful technology against Japan. During the occupation years following the Second World War, Americans were scene as “hairy barbarians” that had destroyed Japan and its values.90 Although many Japanese people welcomed

their occupiers, many others detested the people they had once known as the enemy that used

science to defeat them. Scientific and technological development of nuclear weapons and

weapons delivery devices, such as Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), Multiple

Independent Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs), and others had steadily built up in the years preceding

87 Mizuno, 174. 88 Kalat, 138. 89 Rotter, 224. 90 Dower, 345. 71

the releases of these films.91 The United States and Soviet Union attempted to outpace each other in both amounts of nuclear warheads and methods by which to deliver them to their intended targets. This, and the development of antiballistic missiles (ABMs), was looked on by the world and Japan as bringing about nothing but certain mutually assured destruction. Additionally, nuclear reactors that were intended to display and harness the atom for peaceful purposes were looked upon with grave apprehension, believed for decades to cause radioactive pollution and having the potential to cause destruction similar to atomic bombs.92 In all, Mechagodzilla

represented both the repressed fears of the Japanese people towards science and technology, as

well as their acceptance and use of it.

Celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the original Gojira in 1954, Gojira

(1984) followed along a similar plot of the original.93 Boasting a well-developed plot and an

increase in budgetary expenses that dwarfed anything that had been produced during the earlier

franchise, the film once again explored the effects of nuclear radiation and the Cold War.

Opening with the wrecking of a fishing vessel in a storm, a survivor states that a monster rose from a volcano to attack the ship. Though believed dead, Godzilla is blamed for the attack and the Japanese government awaits the inevitable arrival of the monster on mainland Japan.

Meanwhile, the giant beast attacks a Soviet nuclear submarine, which resembles the attack on an

American submarine depicted in King Kong vs. Godzilla. In response, the USSR blames the

United States for the attack and threatens the use of nuclear weapons. As the world awaits nuclear holocaust, the Japanese government reveals that the attacker was in fact Godzilla, who

91 Weart, 310. 92 Ibid., 296-298. 93 Although this film is generally recognized as being part of the later Heisei series, the Heisei Period in Japanese History did not begin until the ascendance of Emperor Akihito to the throne in 1989. This film was released during Japan’s Shōwa Period, and can be technically considered a Shōwa film. 72

begins its rampage across Japan. Craving nuclear power that fuels it, the giant beast attacks a nuclear power plant and consumes its main reactor to sate its hunger. While Tokyo is evacuated, the Soviet Union attempts to destroy Godzilla by means of an intercontinental ballistic missile, but this plan is thwarted by the United States in an attempt to protect Japan. Using cadmium missiles to contaminate Godzilla’s nuclear biology, the JSDF managed to subdue the beast, but only before it is revived by the fallout emitted by the collision of the Soviet and American missiles. Managing to finally lead the beast away, scientists trigger a volcanic eruption, burning and burying Godzilla and saving the day.94

As this film celebrates thirty years of the nuclear monster at the time of its release, Gojira

maintains many of the thematic elements and anxieties present in the original, as well as the

simple name. Produced again by Tomoyuki Tanaka, the original producer of the 1954 hit, the

film was released in the wake of heightened tensions between the United States and Soviet

Union over the cessation of nuclear weapons testing.95 Attempting to halt the arms race and bring about disarmament for the Cold War superpowers, the United States and Soviet Union began a series of negotiations beginning in the Carter administration that continued through the presidency of Ronald Reagan, eventually bringing about several treaties on disarmament.96 In

this film, these treaties and negotiations are referenced and highlighted by the countries being at

odds over how best to dispense with Godzilla. Where the Soviet Union simply wants to destroy

the monster by any means necessary, the United States desires to protect its ally Japan and

prevent a nuclear attack. The countries negotiating after the Japanese government reveals the

existence of Godzilla shows a strong connection between actual international events and those

94 Gojira, directed by Kohji Hashimoto (Toho, 1984), DVD. 95 Roger N. Fritzel, Nuclear Testing and National Security (Washington: National Defense Univ. Press, 1981), 9-10. 96 U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, Special Report No. 161: Senate Consideration of Unratified Treaties to Limit Nuclear Testing (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1987), 1-2. 73

portrayed in the film. As the countries had begun to cooperate on deescalating the Cold War

about this time, attempting to improve upon treaties that were in place, these negotiations

suggested that peace was right around the corner in the eyes of the world.97

Additionally, Godzilla’s consumption of radiation from the nuclear power plant again highlights how reactors were seen as a form of “sleeping bomb,” one that posed as much a threat to Earth as any other nuclear device. Especially in the face of the Oil Crisis that began in the

1970s, discussions on the utility and effectiveness of nuclear energy became more and more prevalent, but so too did fears of such sources of power.98 In 1979, the Three Mile Island reactor near Middletown, Pennsylvania underwent a series of malfunctions that resulted in the partial melting of fuel.99 Although no one was injured and the damage was contained, this accident

nonetheless raised great fears surrounding the development of nuclear reactors. An essential

contemporary debate throughout the Cold War was over radioactive fallout, or the residual

radiation that remains following nuclear detonations or reactor malfunctions.100 Japan had

developed such sources of power decades prior, enabling both great sources of energy, but these

developments were often met with severe criticism from the Japanese people. In the film, these

fears are shown in the form of Godzilla consuming the radiation from this nuclear power plant, a

new concept that had never been explored in the series prior. Where Godzilla itself is a

dangerous menace born from the atomic bomb, nuclear reactors are seen in a similar fashion,

especially if they malfunction or leak in the case of the Three Mile Island disaster.

97 U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, Special Report No. 152: Verifying Nuclear Testing Limitations: Possible U.S.-Soviet Cooperation (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1986), 4-5. 98 Weart, The Rise of Nuclear Fear, 196-197. 99 Ibid., 201. 100 Ibid., 203-204. 74

Furthermore, the Soviet nuclear sub and ICBM in the film show a vast technological gap

between nuclear delivery mechanisms present in the 1980s, as compared to those available in the

1950s. With the push of a button, the USSR was able to launch a nuclear missile at Godzilla,

while the US was able to do the same and destroy the missile with protective countermeasures in

the form of Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABMs). Where delivery methods were once planes carrying

a single bomb, the technological innovations that had come about in the previous decades before

the film’s release show a changing Cold War. The modernization of delivery methods and the

development of Intermediate Nuclear Weapons, such as the Pershing II and SS-20 that were deployed in Europe, filled the world with great fear concerning nuclear war and ever-looming nuclear annihilation.101 This film shows both the anxiety and hope over these new technologies

present in the world at the time, as cooperation between America and the Soviet Union came to

fruition, which was a dramatic shift in policy. While the film highlights the many nuclear arms

treaties that started to bring about the end of the Cold War, notably the signing of the

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987, it also highlights the hubris associated

with brinkmanship that highlighted the 1980s, with both the United States and Soviet Union

poised to make a nuclear attack on each other at a moment’s notice.102 This also represents the

teetering and precarious situation of the entire Cold War. Although the United States and Soviet

Union existed in a fairly peaceful state and agreed upon several treaties to prevent total war

throughout this time period, each created strategic doctrine to gain an advantage over the other

and to ensure victory in the event of such a war.

101 Andreas Etges, “Western Europe,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War, edited by Richard H. Immerman and Petra Goedde (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 170. While the international community still identified the Soviet Union as a threat, particularly in Europe, there was also a growing consideration that the US under the Ronald Reagan Administration posed an equal threat to the world, particularly regarding some of its policies related to Intermediate Nuclear Weapons. 102 Rhoads and McCorkle, 148. 75

In this film, Godzilla is represented as being nearly twice as tall as the original; towering

80 meters above the ground, as opposed to the original monster’s height of 50 meters.103

Coupled with a hydraulic- and computer-powered robot that controlled the face movements of the monster, the new Godzilla of the Heisei series was a remarkable technological advance over the previous, often laughable suit that was used throughout the Shōwa.104 Despite being a small detail that is not initially apparent, the monster’s new height reflected the growing and heightening of the Tokyo cityscape of the time, which had greatly risen since the release of the original film.105 Where previous cities on set appeared very much like toys and were not realistic, it is apparent in Gojira that set designers paid great attention to designing the miniature

Tokyo to appear as close to the real city as possible. Buildings are given enhanced lighting and details that look incredibly similar to real buildings that were standing in Tokyo at the time, while the angles and shots taken by the cinematography crew enhance the perceived height of the

“new” Godzilla.106 Most notably, Godzilla is shown crashing through the Sompo Japan Building and other buildings located in the Nishi-Shinjuku district, Tokyo’s premier financial district that had greatly developed at this time. By portraying Godzilla as attacking this area of Tokyo, it highlights both the economic development of Japan, but also the threat that nuclear weapons posed to this development. Although the models representing the JSDF forces in the film are very obvious toys and models, like those in past films, the numerous buildings modelled and constructed for the film appear as very realistic representations of the actual settings in which the film is set.

103 Tsutsui, 64. 104 Kalat, 164. 105 Galbraith IV and Hayes269. 106 Kalat, 164. 76

Figure 5: Godzilla’s new size and appearance in the 1980s. Source: Tom Simpson, “Godzilla in a field in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991),” Flickr, uploaded September 6, 2018, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gameraboy/29575078527. Both the set and real cityscape of Tokyo provide insights into a changing Japan during

the 1980s that differed from previous decades. Despite some economic setbacks due to the oil

crisis of the 1970s, Japan had recovered from these difficulties well, having an average annual

Gross National Product (GNP) growth rate nearing 5 percent through the end of the 1980s.107

This growth in the face of economic adversity revealed Japan to be reasonably economically

secure, contrasting the economic downturn that had afflicted much of the Western world at the

time, including the United States.108 Furthermore, this time period also saw the rapid influx of

the Japanese population into metropolitan areas, with only approximately 9 percent of the entire

nation’s workforce employed in agriculture by 1986, down from the near 50 percent that it was

at four decades prior.109 At the same time, labor in industrial workplaces increased to such a high

level that government officials proclaimed an “end of the postwar period” that Japan had existed

107 Gordon, 296. 108 Ibid., 297. 109 William W. Kelly, “Finding a Place in Metropolitan Japan: Ideologies, Institutions, and Everyday Life,” in Postwar Japan as History, edited by Andrew Gordon (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 261-262. 77

in during the release of the previous Godzilla films.110 This enabled Tokyo to eventually become

the most populated city in the world, which is apparent in both the model and actual city. This

economic security is apparent within Gojira as the numerous skyscrapers and towers that tower

above Tokyo and allow Godzilla to be much larger than before. Though this film was not

received as well by fans of the series, with critics and moviegoers alike disparaging the plot, the

increased size of the monster and higher quality set nonetheless drew crowds in to see their

favorite radioactive monster return.111

Though laughable and easily written off, the films of the Shōwa Godzilla series held

many important thematic elements related to the fears and angers of Japan during the Cold War.

The effects of nuclear radiation, the greater development of science and technology, the

expansion of communist power in Asia, environmental concerns, and many other important ideas

appear throughout the series. However, with declining ticket sales and a lack of creative

direction, Toho Studios was ultimately forced to end the Godzilla franchise, at least

temporarily.112 Though sales of merchandise continued for several years, notably within the

United States, and while there was a great desire from the dedicated fanbase to continue the series, Toho temporarily halted production of Godzilla films due to a lack of financial and

creative support. However, these films were eventually reignited and expanded by the Heisei

series in 1989.

110 Ibid., 262. 111 Galbraith and Hayes, 268. 112 Tsutsui, 63. 78

CHAPTER THREE A NEW WORLD MONSTER: GODZILLA IN THE HEISEI PERIOD

Despite early successes with the first installments of the Godzilla series, Toho Studios

began to see a marked dropped in ticket sales and box office revenue in the later years of the

Shōwa Period. However, encouraged by sales of merchandise domestically and internationally, a

continued cry from adult moviegoers to see the films, and renewed tensions between Cold War

aggressors, Toho began to contemplate reviving the series in the early 1980s.1 Additionally, the

1980s saw the continued decline of film in favor of television that had begun in the mid-1960s,

forcing Toho to attempt to revive its main source of revenue.2 This era of the franchise,

commonly called the “Heisei Period” because of its temporal alignment with the rule of Emperor

Akihito (Heisei) that began in 1989, was much shorter than the preceding era of Godzilla films

but was marked by a notable increase in production values and writing quality. Additionally,

where many of the films in the Shōwa Period had questionable and often weak connections to

events that transpired in their contemporary times, the Heisei Period did not have such

shortcomings. In fact, the Heisei series arguably “retconned” the majority of the Shōwa series,

save for the original Gojira, in an attempt to start anew with fresh stories and cultural

connections. Beginning with Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) and concluding with Godzilla vs.

Destroyah (1995), this chapter examines the six films of the Heisei Period, from Toho’s revival

of the beloved radioactive lizard until its untimely (though temporary) death. In doing so, this

chapter will assess their historical value and argue for their utility in exploring the Cold War and

the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

1 William Tsutsui, Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 63-64. 2 Sean Rhoads and Brooke McCorkle, Japan’s Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018), 140. 79

Although released five years after the release of Gojira (or Return of Godzilla as it was titled in the United States), 1989’s Godzilla vs. Biollante is set almost immediately following the previous film. In this addition to the Godzilla series, Godzilla’s radioactive cells are harvested and taken to a laboratory to be secretly merged with the cells of a plant in the hopes of creating a durable plant that could survive drought and reduce the fictional nation of Saradia’s dependence on oil. However, a terrorist attack cripples the laboratory, ruining the cells and killing the daughter of Dr. Genshiro Shiragami, one of the main scientists. A year following the attack, Dr.

Shiragami harvests his deceased daughter’s cells and combines them with those of a rose in an attempt to preserve her soul. Simultaneously, scientists employed by the JSDF begin to use

Godzilla’s cells to create an “Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria” to be used as a weapon against

Godzilla in anticipation of future attacks. Eventually, as the international community denounces the use of Godzilla’s cells in the tests, the two groups agree to work together to continue testing, with Shiragami secretly combining the cells of Godzilla with his own experiments. Shortly thereafter, a rival bio-testing agency and spies break into the lab only to be attacked by a mysterious plant-like creature there, which turns out to be the featured monster, Biollante. These same spies then blackmail the Diet of Japan by threatening to awaken Godzilla in his volcano home using explosives if they are not given the cells. The explosives are then detonated, awakening Godzilla who travels to Japan to consume nuclear energy before being beckoned by

Biollante, causing a battle to ensue that sees Godzilla victorious. Now on the mainland, Godzilla travels in the direction of a nuclear power plant to sate its hunger, but is turned away by a psychic who can telepathically communicate with the monster. This buys Shiragami and the other scientists enough time to figure out that an increase of Godzilla’s body temperature will enable their anti-nuclear bacteria to work and defeat it. Erecting microwave emitters and causing 80

an artificial thunderstorm during a long fight between Godzilla and Biollante, the JSDF are

eventually able to subdue Godzilla after another victorious battle against the plant monster.

Before returning to the sea, Godzilla collapses from exhaustion on the beach from the fight and

the bacteria while Biollante splits apart into glowing spores that fly into the sky. Though

Godzilla proves victorious against Biollante, the JSDF are confident in their ability to prevent

further attacks by the giant monster.3

Maintaining the anti-nuclear rhetoric inherent in the entire Godzilla series, while also

utilizing themes related to anxieties surrounding genetic experimentation, Godzilla vs. Biollante

offers an apparent warning about the dangers of science and man’s place in nature. Much like

Godzilla itself, Biollante is the result of man’s infatuation with science and the power of

creation, which poses as grave a danger to Japan and the world as do nuclear weapons. Despite

his involvement in the events that transpire in the film, Dr. Shiragami states towards the end that,

“Biollante and Godzilla are not monsters, it is the arrogant scientists that create them.”4 Of

course Shiragami neglects to include himself in this assessment and assume responsibility for

creating Biollante, but this message resounds throughout the entirety of the film as an obvious

environmental message about the growth of science and man’s irresponsible use of it.

Likewise, Godzilla vs. Biollante presents the idea of what may happen if Earth decides to

fight back, so to speak. Effectively, the film argues that humanity is its own undoing; creating

pollution, causing global warming, and connecting humanity forever to the environment that it so

often neglects and abuses.5 Much like the original Gojira, this addition to the Godzilla franchise

positions man’s place in nature as the ultimate threat to the Earth’s survival, the entity that had

3 Godzilla vs. Biollante, directed by Kazuki Ōmori (Toho, 1989), DVD. 4 Ibid., 1:35:45-1:35:50. 5 Robin L. Murray and Joseph K. Heumann, Monstrous Nature: Environment and Horror on the Big Screen (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2016), 54, 62. 81

created both Godzilla and Biollante and would endanger everyone. This film was released only a

few years following the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, where a reactor at the Soviet Chernobyl

nuclear power plant exploded and released deadly radiation into the area.6 This disaster greatly

damaged the image and perception of nuclear power and reactors, which had already been

viewed as a dangerous endeavor. In this film, Godzilla’s consumption of nuclear energy and the

creation of Biollante from similar energy posits this very danger from the radiation created by

nuclear reactors, as well as the environmental damage that such radiation can cause.

Attempting to create a world-changing crop from the cells of a radioactive monster,

Shiragami’s folly follows along similar plots as earlier American films that explored similar ideas and the problems that emerge from the plans of scientists to “change the world.”7 These earlier films, like The Beginning of the End (1957) and The Food of the Gods (1976) more often explored scientists making food larger, but the connections are nonetheless present.8 Climate

change, rising human population, and dwindling resources are all themes explored by Godzilla

vs. Biollante that had, and still have, real-world implications. In fact, director Kazuki Ōmori

went so far as to study biotechnology and botany prior to developing the story so as to connect

the plot back to concerns that were present at the time.9

By the late-1980s when the film was produced, genetic engineering and biotechnology

had become major issues of contention among the international community, with many people

decrying these fields for their potential immoral use of science over nature. In 1987, researchers

6 Spencer R. Weart, The Rise of Nuclear Fears (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012), 201-202. Unlike the incident that occurred at Three Mile Island in 1979, this disaster was considered much worse because it did not have a containment shell and actually caused many fatalities. The area surrounding Chernobyl is still prohibited from human settlement because of the lingering radiation there. 7 Mark C. Glassy, Biology Run Amok! The Life Science of Science Fiction Cinema (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018), 186. 8 Ibid., 193-199. 9 Rhoads and McCorkle, 148. 82

at Osaka University successfully created a repeating gene sequence within E. coli bacteria, a process that would become known as “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”

(CRISPR), which was frequently utilized in genetic editing.10 This process involves direct

manipulation of chromosomal DNA information and splicing certain enzymes into different

sequences to achieve a desired effect. Later, in an interview conducted in 1990, Ōmori went so

far as to say, “[i]n our present reality, there exist nuclear weapons and the Japanese islands.

Additionally, there are theories that a new breed of youthful human beings will appear, through

genetic engineering.”11 This shows that the themes within the film are directly related to fears

conjured by actual research and scientific development of the time.

Furthermore, scientists utilizing Godzilla’s cells to create an anti-nuclear bacteria reflects

other sentiments present in American films, such as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) that

inspired the original Gojira. In the former film, nuclear testing awakens and irradiates a frozen

dinosaur from an iceberg, which eventually wreaks havoc on New York City before being killed

by a blast of radioactive isotopes.12 Both Godzilla vs. Biollante and The Beast from 20,000

Fathoms showcase a monster being killed by the very technology that had created it in the first

place.13 In doing so, both films present science in a view that it can create as much as it destroys,

a notion that had been prevalent within Japan since Hiroshima. Shiragami is never openly

chastised in Godzilla vs. Biollante for creating the monsters because it is understood that he was

simply trying to help the Earth and create a sustainable future for humanity’s children. Unlike the

necessary sacrifice undertaken by Dr. Serizawa in the original Gojira, where he took his own life

10 Yoshizumi Ishino, et al., “Nucleotide Sequence of the iap Gene, Responsible for Alkaline Phosphatase Isozyme Conversion in Escherichia coli, and Identification of the Gene Product,” Journal of Bacteriology 169, no. 12 (December, 1987): 5429, https://dx.doi.org/10.1128%2Fjb.169.12.5429-5433.1987. 11 Ibid., 148-149. 12 The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, directed by Eugène Lourié (Warner, Bros., 1953), DVD. 13 Margot A. Henriksen, Dr. Strangelove’s America: Society and Culture in the Atomic Age (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), 57-58. 83 to help rid Japan of a monster created by science, Shiragami is framed as simply a lamenting father trying to create sustainable sources of food. Additionally, the scientists in the film that create the anti-nuclear bacteria posit that it can aid in the cleanup of nuclear radiation in areas that had been contaminated from testing, such as the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.14

These changes in perception and reception of science within the Japanese people highlights the change in science itself since 1945; where it was once used to destroy the lives of thousands of people, it also may be the only solution to problems created in the past.

Released two years after Godzilla vs. Biollante, the 1991 release of Godzilla vs. King

Ghidorah revived several elements from the Shōwa Series of films, namely Ghidorah returns as the ominous and powerful King Ghidorah. The film begins with science fiction author Kenichiro

Terasawa researching Godzilla for a book he is writing, only to find that a dinosaur had saved a group of Japanese soldiers on a Pacific island during the Second World War. Terasawa hypothesizes that this dinosaur was the creature that became Godzilla when it was exposed to hydrogen bomb tests in 1954. A testimony from the surviving officer of the Japanese troops, coupled with the word of a group of time travelers from the year 2204, confirms this hypothesis.

The time travelers, dubbed the Futurians, state that they traveled back in time to the film’s setting of 1992 to retrieve Terasawa and several others to then travel back to 1944 and kill the dinosaur because Godzilla ultimately destroys Earth in the future.

Once on the island, the group sees American forces being attacked by the dinosaur before it is wounded by naval bombardment and transported by the Futurians to the Bering Strait.

However, unbeknownst to Terasawa and the others from 1992, the Futurians leave three small creatures on the island to be irradiated by the 1954 bombing and these turn into King Ghidorah.

14 Rhoads and McCorkle, 151. 84

When they return to the present, the Futurians then use King Ghidorah to take over and enslave

Japan. However, one of the Futurians turns on the others and reveals that the real reason they had traveled back in time is because Japan had become the world’s economic hegemon, surpassing the combined economic power of the United States, China, and all of Europe. The Futurians, which are determined to prevent this economic growth and undermine Japan’s growing power, are revealed to be using King Ghidorah to actually enslave Japan. Emboldened by saving Japan, as well as discovering that a sunken Soviet nuclear submarine can mutate the dinosaur into

Godzilla, Terasawa embarks on a mission to defeat King Ghidorah and the Futurians. Eventually, the new Godzilla proves victorious over King Ghidorah, blasting away its middle head as

Terasawa and the others incapacitate the Futurians’ vessel that had been controlling the three- headed monster. However, the Futurians are able to travel back to the future and return to the present with the cybernetic Mecha-King Ghidorah, who is also beaten by Godzilla when the two fly into the ocean. With King Ghidorah finally beaten and Godzilla sleeping in the ocean, Japan is saved again and Terasawa is told that one of the Futurians is his descendent, hence their willingness to assist him.15

Along with reviving a key character of the Godzilla franchise, Godzilla vs. King

Ghidorah injects several important themes into the series, namely the decline of the Soviet

Union and its eventual collapse at the end of 1991. Although the release of this films precedes this event by about eleven days, the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and Soviet General Secretary

Mikhail Gorbachev effectively releasing the Warsaw Pact nations in 1990 are two major events that are often regarded as the beginning of the end of the Cold War.16 The Soviet Union’s slow

15 Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, directed by Kazuki Ōmori (Toho, 1991), DVD. 16 Nicholas Guyatt, “The End of the Cold War,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War, edited by Richard H. Immerman and Petra Goedde (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 605. 85

death could be felt worldwide, echoing a new era that relieved Japan and the international

community of its many anxieties and fears surrounding nuclear annihilation. Within the film,

these changes are alluded to when the Futurians’ plan to thwart the rise of Japan is revealed.

Along with representing Japan as an absolute economic hegemon that has the capability to “buy”

entire continents full of countries, it is also made known that the future is absent of any nuclear

power or weapons, meaning that they had been deemed obsolete in favor of more practical and

peaceful methods.17 The end of the Cold War is often framed as a “happy ending” of sorts,

where the free societies of the West used their democracy and capitalism to “outlast” the

oppressive communism of the Soviet Bloc.18 Much like the Soviet nuclear submarine that was

lying at the bottom of the ocean, waiting for Godzilla to use its nuclear energy and become

mighty again, the Soviet Union itself was appearing as a relic of the past. This film showcases

this idea, but it also presents the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union as an

example of one empire falling only to give way to another. Additionally, this presents fear over

the collapse of the Soviet Union and what would happen if former Soviet republics, many of

them politically unstable, could access nuclear materials and stockpiles.19

If King Ghidorah is seen in a similar fashion to the original Ghidrah, the Soviet Union is represented as giving way to China at the end of the Cold War. Despite the fall of the Soviet

Union and the West’s “victory”, communist states like North Korea, Vietnam, and China managed to survive and still exist today, and are arguably represented here by King Ghidorah’s three heads. Despite the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 4 and the “Beijing Spring” of 1989 and the outward appearance of the impending collapse of communism in China, China in the

17 Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, 51:57-53:13. 18 Guyatt, 606. 19 Ibid., 614-615. 86

early 1990s showed the growing potential to rise as a world superpower and become a rival to

the United States.20 Much like how King Ghidorah in the film was created during the early Cold

War from nuclear testing, the People’s Republic of China arose victorious over the Guomindang

Nationalist Chinese forces in 1949, assuming control over the Asian giant and becoming the

dominant communist power in East Asia.21 Additionally, King Ghidorah’s initial defeat and

death at the hands of Godzilla, only to return later as a mechanized version of itself may be seen

as representative of the Soviet Union dying and being replaced by China as the world’s leading

communist power. This symbolism was not accidental, as Kazuki Ōmori had originally planned

in 1990 to create a film titled Mothra vs. Bagan, in which the Chinese dragon-god Bagan is

awakened from its glacier slumber to destroy humanity, which it considers to be the Earth’s

greatest enemy due to humans causing global warming.22 If Baran’s connection to Chinese mythology is considered in light of King Ghidorah’s role in this film, much like the original

Ghidrah, the comparison to communist China is apparent. Ghidorah has become China, and

China has become Ghidorah.

Additionally, this presumed economic supremacy of Japan in the future was partly inspired by the continued economic success of Japan during the early 1990s that rode the coattails of prosperity from the 1970s and 1980s.23 From the perspective of many Japanese

people and external observers from the international community, Japan in the early 1990s had

become the preeminent economic power in Asia, and possibly expand outside these geographic

limits. Many believed at the time that this economic power even contributed to the collapse of

20 Rana Mitter, “China and the Cold War,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War, edited by Richard H. Immerman and Petra Goedde (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 138. 21 Ibid., 124. 22 Kalat, 190. 23 Gordon, A Modern History of Japan, 316. 87

the Soviet Union by allowing those living within the USSR to purchase Japanese consumer

goods and commodities.24 The Japanese production, and subsequent consumption, of goods was so high, that the annual per-capita spending rose from the equivalent of $256 in 1874 to $3947 in

1988.25 Perhaps not coincidentally, some of this economic production was in sales of Godzilla

merchandise, which had a wide international market, notably in the United States.26 This

economic growth had a profound impact on the perceived position Japan had in the world and on

the image Japan had of itself as rising from the literal ashes of the Second World War. This

consumption was not on par with the United States, which had developed the largest consumer

culture in the world during the twentieth century, but Japanese household saving rates reached

approximately 15% in 1988, nearly double that of the United States.27 This meant that the

average Japanese accumulated more savings, which reflected the economic prosperity of the

entire nation. While this rise did not last, with external international pressure causing the

economy to stall and the economic bubble to burst, the image of Japan in 1991 was one of an

already developed economy that showed no intention of stopping its already massive growth.28

By all estimates and figures at the time, the island nation was poised to become the preeminent

economic power of the world, replacing bombs with cash. Where the United States had

developed into a superpower through its military and economic might after World War II, Japan

instead was developing into a superpower that was using solely economic means to reach that

station.

24 Antony Best, “Japan and the Cold War: An Overview,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War, edited by Richard H. Immerman and Petra Goedde (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 298. 25 Charles Yuji Horioka, “Consuming and Saving,” in Postwar Japan as History, edited by Andrew Gordon (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 311. 26 Tsutsui, 64. 27 Ibid., 322-333. 28 Gordon, A Modern History of Japan, 317. 88

Following in the same pattern of returning old characters from the Shōwa series, Godzilla vs. Mothra revives the giant moth in a continuance of the broader Heisei storyline. This film follows closely behind the events of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. The opening scene depicts a giant meteor landing in the ocean near the Ogasawara Trench, awakening Godzilla and causing a typhoon near Indonesia that reveals a giant, buried egg. Meanwhile, an explorer, Takuya Fujito, is caught stealing artifacts from a temple – in an apparent attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the Indiana Jones franchise – with the temple collapsing around him as an obvious reference to the first film in that series. The arresting authorities and the Japanese government offer

Takuya his freedom if he agrees to investigate Infant Island with his ex-wife, Masako Tezuka, and the secretary of the Marutomo Company, Kenji Ando. Upon their arrival, the three stumble across cave paintings that depict two insects in battle, along with a giant egg. They are also greeted by two miniature humanoids, called the Cosmos, who explain that the egg belongs to

Mothra and it may have awoken Battra (a portmanteau of “battle” and Mothra), her evil twin.

The Cosmos explain that Battra was created to protect Earth from climate change imposed by an ancient civilization 12,000 years ago, but it became too evil and was eventually defeated by Mothra. Eventually, the Marutomo Company arrives to retrieve the egg, stating their goal is to protect it, but their ship is intercepted by Godzilla, who releases the Mothra larva from the egg, attracting Battra to the area to fight Godzilla. The ensuing fight causes a crack to form in the Philippine Sea plate, swallowing both Godzilla and Battra below the crust. During the fight, it is revealed that the Marutomo company actually intended to capture the Cosmos and use them for a publicity campaign, but their plan is thwarted when Mothra attacks Tokyo to rescue them.

However, the JSDF manages to turn the giant insect back, which then constructs a giant cocoon around the National Diet Building to assume its true form and fight Battra. Godzilla interrupts 89 this fight, only to be attacked by both giant insects, who decide to join forces and carry Godzilla into the ocean. However, Godzilla manages to bite and kill Battra midflight, causing a tired

Mothra to drop the giant lizard into the ocean and seal it under the surface with magic. It is then revealed that Battra’s true intention was to stop another meteor that was predicted to collide with

Earth in 1999, so Mothra promises to do so instead. With Godzilla sealed away in the ocean,

Mothra and the Cosmos return to Infant Island and bid farewell to the humans who assisted them.29

Although the plot of Godzilla vs. Mothra often appears confusing, constantly switching the monsters between acting as protagonists and antagonists, it does utilize many themes and messages that had been used throughout the series already. Notably, the film discusses how climate change caused by humans can create dramatic changes in weather and have grave consequences for the Earth. As expressed in earlier Godzilla films during the Shōwa series, such as Godzilla vs. Hedorah, climate change had become an issue of profound importance to the international community since the 1970s.30 In 1970, Earth Day was created as a reminder of the human impact on the Earth and to demonstrate support for environmental awareness. Especially as more information was uncovered from studies of the long-term effects of nuclear fallout, this issue became a battle of ideologies between those who wished to harness the atom and those who wanted to see a future powered by cleaner energy. Within the film, Kenji Ando explains that the

Marutomo Company had caused significant destruction to the environment, comparing the actions of his and other companies to that of the ancient civilization that had caused Battra to be created in the first place.31 This appears to have been intentionally inserted into the film to

29 Godzilla vs. Mothra, directed by Takao Okawara (Toho, 1992), DVD. 30 Spencer R. Weart, Nuclear Fear: A History of Images (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988), 354- 356. 31 Godzilla vs. Mothra, 23:38-23:53. 90 connect the Cold War to climate change and the uncertainty that a changing world would bring.

With the Soviet Union fully collapsing by the time the film was released, the filmmakers sought to find a new threat that posed an even greater existential danger to Japan and the world.

Although not fully expressed within the film, Godzilla vs. Mothra also contains several themes that were present in the original Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), such as the transition Japan underwent during its occupation by the United States. Notably, Mothra and Battra are representative of the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese military in favor of the JSDF, with the two monsters representing the duality of military power in Japan. Before and during the Second

World War, Japanese ideology held Emperor Hirohito as the heart of Japan, a descendent of the sun goddess Amaterasu that would guide Japan to victory in Asia.32 While this cannot be assumed to be the universal belief of the entire Japanese people, Japanese soldiers went into the field carrying the Senjinkun (Field Service Code), that stated, “[T]he battlefield is where the

Imperial Army, acting under the Imperial command, displays its true character, conquering whenever it attacks, winning whenever it engages in combat, in order to spread the Imperial Way far and wide so that the enemy may look up in awe to the august virtues of His Majesty.”33

Therefore, Battra (which is intentionally meant to sound similar to “battle”) may be read as a metaphor for the former hardline militarists in the Japanese government during the war, a god of sorts that aims to spread its will far and wide. At the same time, Mothra also represents the JSDF, a protective force created in order to stop Battra and maintain peace in the world.

Founded out of the National Police Reserve (NPR), the JSDF was created as a means to protect

Japan from attack while also allowing the nation to maintain an image of peace.34 The creation

32 John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999), 277. 33 Ibid. 34 Jennifer M. Miller, Cold War Democracy: The United States and Japan (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019), 71-72. 91

of the JSDF also had the added benefit of maintaining a military power in Asia aligned with the

United States that did not have the means to revive its wartime aggression.35 As Battra was

created from the Earth, similar to the Imperial Japanese military being created from the divine

will of the Emperor, Mothra was also created from the Earth to defeat Battra. Although the two

monsters eventually side together to defeat Godzilla, Battra is killed by the giant lizard’s atomic

ray, similarly to Imperial Japanese forces capitulating after the bombings of Hiroshima and

Nagasaki. Additionally, Mothra constructing its cocoon on the National Diet Building further

supports this, as it was the US-supported Japanese constitution and the Japanese government that

ultimately created the JSDF, rather than the actual atomic bomb itself. Thus, Godzilla vs. Mothra

compares its monsters to two outcomes from nuclear weapons: climate change and the fall of the

militarists in Japan.

Released a year after Godzilla vs. Mothra but supposedly being set in the same year,

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (often called Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II), features the giant lizard

battling a mechanized version of itself. In an attempt to protect Japan and prevent future Godzilla

attacks, the United Nations establishes the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center

(UNGCC), under which the military branch known as G-Force operates. This group is tasked

with salvaging the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah, which is then transformed into a flying

ship called Garuda and a mech known as Mechagodzilla.36 Meanwhile, a group of Japanese

members of G-Force investigate an island that houses a supposed Pteranodon egg that gives off a telepathic signal to Godzilla and Rodan, causing the two radioactive monsters to fight on the island. As Godzilla wounds Rodan, the team is able to escape with the egg to a research lab in

35 Ibid., 73. 36 Garuda, or Karura in Japanese, is a legendary Hindu and Buddhist bird-like creature that serves as a protector against evil spirits and serpents. See Robert E. Buswell, Jr. and Donald S. Lopez, Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), 314-315. 92

Kyoto, which hatches and reveals a baby Godzilla that imprints on a young female scientist at the lab in a similar fashion to a baby bird. The group of scientists theorize that Godzilla left the egg in Rodan’s nest to be cared for, similar to the behavior of cuckoo birds. Godzilla then reappears to retrieve the egg, but is stopped by the JSDF and Mechagodzilla, which is able to temporarily stop the beast until it is critically damaged in the fight. In an attempt to protect Japan and continue studying the baby, the scientists manage to shield its telepathic abilities from

Godzilla, causing the parent to become enraged and destroy most of Kyoto in the process. It is also revealed that the baby Godzilla has two brains, one in its head and the other in its hip to control its movement, which references early theories about the dinosaur Stegosaurus.

To prove this theory, the scientists hire a psychic named Miki Saegusa to help them find

Godzilla’s second brain, but they are interrupted when Rodan returns to take the young Baby

Godzilla. Mechagodzilla and Garuda managed to kill Rodan but are again attacked by Godzilla before the two robots combine into Super-Mechagodzilla and temporarily paralyze it. However,

Rodan returns to life and rejuvenates Godzilla’s second brain, providing the monster more power to create a super-charged version of its atomic ray and destroy the robot. Godzilla is then assisted by Miki, who telepathically communicates with the Baby Godzilla and convinces it to return home with its parent, saving the rest of Japan from destruction and causing the two to swim out to sea.37

Much like the original Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla from 1973, this new addition to the

Heisei series maintained many of the same messages that had previously been used, particularly, warning of the threat that technology and science in the wrong hands posed to Japan and the world. In the film, Mechagodzilla is created by humans in an effort to protect themselves from

37 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, directed by Takao Okawara (Toho, 1993), DVD. 93

Godzilla, but the machine monster also engages in similar levels of destruction that they aim to

prevent. This plot device may be interpreted as an allegory for the U.S.-Japan national security

alliance at the time. In an effort to create an “umbrella of deterrence” in Asia against communist

aggression, the United States had nuclear arms positioned and maintained in Okinawa until 1972,

and in the Republic of Korea (ROK, or South Korea) until 1991.38 While this strategy of nuclear

deterrence did have the intended effect of preventing China, North Korea, or the Soviet Union

from attacking these countries, it is also suggested that it made them into targets as well.

Regional geo-political strategies during the Cold War stressed deterrence and the

capability of a “second strike” during nuclear war, but other strategies stressed the ability to

make a “first strike” so debilitating that the target country could not retaliate in kind.39 If a

country did not have the means to retaliate quickly enough or to the same level, it could easily be

destroyed and its people could face extermination.40 Furthermore, being able to perform a first strike attack against a nation often meant targeting their nuclear and conventional military facilities to prevent a possible second attack.41 This means that the introduction of nuclear

weapons into Japan and South Korea immediately painted a target on these countries, so to

speak. The very means by which the United States was attempting to protect these countries also

created the potential for their very doom.

This also reflects the continued animosity that the film producers and many people in

Japan had towards the United States regarding its past use of nuclear weapons. Like themes

present in Godzilla vs. Biollante, science is framed as both the villain and the hero, with

38 Terence Roehrig, Japan, South Korea, and the United States Nuclear Umbrella: Deterrence After the Cold War (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017), 1-2. 39 Ibid., 3. 40David R. Stone, “The Military,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War, edited by Richard H. Immerman and Petra Goedde (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 342. 41 Ibid., 345-356. 94

humanity attempting to fix its own mistakes by creating additional monsters. The many monsters

of the Godzilla series, but notably Mechagodzilla in this film, are symbolic of humanity’s

tampering with nature and its unceasing ability to create additional problems for itself.42 Man

created Godzilla, the bomb, and must atone for his sins for doing so in the form of

Mechagodzilla.43 At best, the struggle humanity faces to make right by its mistakes results in a pyrrhic victory for Mechagodzilla, which is often unable to best the giant lizard in combat, and makes Godzilla harder to kill.44 As greater developments in nuclear arms came into existence

during and after the Cold War in an effort to create greater means of deterrence, the problem of

nuclear holocaust became a much greater issue and much more likely. The development of

Mechagodzilla was intended to prevent further destruction by Godzilla but ultimately proved to

be just another potential step on the way to total global destruction.

Harkening back to the events that took place during Godzilla vs. Biollante, the 1994 release of Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla begins with the spores of Biollante and cells of Godzilla being exposed to the radiation of a black hole after drifting through space. This creates

Spacegodzilla, a creature that possesses many of the same qualities as the normal Godzilla, but with space crystals protruding from its body. This creature makes its way to Earth in the form of a crystalline meteor, destroying a NASA space station that had the misfortune of being in its path. Simultaneously, a group from the UNGCC that had created Mechagodzilla, attempt to put a mind-control device on Godzilla in an effort to control it and prevent future attacks on Japan.

However, while conducting their operations, the psychic Miki that had accompanied them is told by Mothra’s priestesses, the Cosmos, that Spacegodzilla would be arriving soon and poses a

42 Weart, 194. 43 Tsutsui, 86. 44 Kalat, 218. 95 threat to the entire world. Heeding the warning, Miki warns the UNGCC, who mobilize the

Mobile Operations G-Force Universal Expert Robot: Aero-type (M.O.G.U.E.R.A.) to intercept

Spacegodzilla and defeat it. However, the M.O.G.U.E.R.A. is damaged and retreats, allowing

Spacegodzilla to proceed to Godzilla’s island and attack Baby Godzilla. Attempting to rescue its child, Godzilla intervenes, but is also defeated before Baby Godzilla is trapped within a crystal prison and Spacegodzilla heads for Japan. During the fighting, Miki is captured by the Yakuza so that the crime syndicate can mentally control Godzilla. However, this plan is thwarted by Miki’s friends in the UNGCC and an attack by Spacegodzilla in the city the Yakuza calls their headquarters.

Godzilla then arrives to fight Spacegodzilla again but is still overpowered while the JSDF deduce that the extraterrestrial monster plans to absorb the power of the Earth’s core by way of

Fukuoka Tower. The M.O.G.U.E.R.A. also makes its return to assist Godzilla, splitting into a flying ship and a tank that manage to destroy Spacegodzilla’s crystal fortress and topple the tower that supplies Spacegodzilla with power. Spacegodzilla then turns on the M.O.G.U.E.R.A. and destroys it, only to be killed by Godzilla’s supercharged atomic ray. With Spacegodzilla defeated and Godzilla able to return home to its Baby, the JSDF and UNGCC warn that continued pollution of space might incur another invasion by a similar monster.45

Similar to themes present in Godzilla vs. Biollante about man’s interference in nature and employing other warnings about the threat of pollution, Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla cleverly disguises concerns about man’s place in nature as a threat from outer space. As Spacegodzilla was created from the destruction of Biollante, which was in turn created from man’s interference in nature, the monster serves as a reminder of what can come of tampering with nature.

45 Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla, directed by Kensho Yamashita (Toho, 1994), DVD. 96

Ultimately, this tampering with nature creates a monster that can feed off the Earth as its own

source of energy, a metaphor for the alarming growth of industry and pollution.46 This theme of

interference with nature is also evident with multiple parties in the film trying to take control of

Godzilla with a mind control device. Although unsuccessful in their efforts to do so, this reflects

the inherent desire in man to want to control his surroundings and be the ultimate force of change

in nature. Unlike earlier American science fiction films that utilize mind control as a means for

outside entities to infiltrate communities and nations, mind control of Godzilla reflects man’s

interference with nature and its normal processes.47 Though this film does not offer any Cold

War themes or any specific ideas related to its contemporary time, it does present the continued

idea of man as creating his own problems by tampering with nature. Just as Godzilla was created

from the misuse of science, nothing but disaster can come of man attempting to control nature. In

this way, Godzilla is again portrayed as a Frankenstein’s monster of sorts, another monster

created from the misuse of science and lack of moral judgement by scientists.

Released a year following Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla and intended as an end to the Heisei

series of films, Godzilla vs. Destroyah is also the only film since the original Gojira from 1954

to feature the death of Godzilla. The film begins with the UNGCC investigating an underwater

eruption off the coast of Japan, which is revealed to have caused enough fission of uranium to

detonate and destroy Godzilla’s island. Godzilla is then seen attacking Hong Kong but appears to

have glowing red rashes covering its skin and emitting a much more destructive red atomic ray.

In an attempt to investigate what is happening to the giant monster, the JSDF and UNGCC hire

Kenkichi Yamane, the grandson of Dr. Kyohei Yamane that originally studied the first Godzilla,

46 Rhoads and McCorkle, 169. 47 David Seed, American Science Fiction and the Cold War: Literature and Film (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999), 134-135. 97 who theorizes that Godzilla’s heart is undergoing nuclear meltdown from the nuclear eruption.

To stop this and prevent the world from being destroyed in a massive nuclear explosion, the

JSDF use their flying vehicle, the “Super X III,” outfitted with anti-nuclear cold missiles to cool the monster and stop it from melting down. This works only temporarily, leaving the monster unconscious and frozen, but it buys the world enough time to strategize what to do next.

At the same time, it is discovered that the original Oxygen Destroyer employed by Dr.

Serizawa in the original Gojira (1954) to kill the beast has unintentionally awoken and mutated an ancient species of Precambrian organisms resembling early crustaceans. These creatures experience incredibly accelerated evolution, combining into giant crab-like monsters that attack

JSDF forces before combining into a giant flying creature called Destroyah. When Godzilla eventually awakes from its slumber, its condition is found to have been worsened by its hibernation, so psychic Miki (who had appeared in earlier films of the Heisei series) telepathically lures Godzilla Junior to Tokyo in the hopes that the parent might follow and be killed by Destroyah. Godzilla Junior fights Destroyah, which seriously wounds the young monster by injecting micro oxygen from the Oxygen Destroyer into its blood. As Godzilla arrives on the scene, Destroyah is defeated by being thrown into an electrical power plant, only to return in its “perfect form” created from combining its own DNA with that of Godzilla Junior, which it kills by dropping it from a great height while flying. In the ensuing fight, Godzilla attempts to revive its child, hoping that the massive amounts of radiation it is producing from its body might be enough. However, this is only enough to temporarily revive Godzilla Junior, enraging Godzilla and accelerating its meltdown. This provides Godzilla enough power to fire its largest atomic ray into Destroyah, greatly weakening the monster while the JSDF clip its wings.

With Destroyah defeated, Godzilla begins to die and undergo meltdown, which is mitigated by 98 the efforts of the JSDF and their freezing cannons. Although Tokyo is ultimately destroyed in the ensuing explosion, the Earth is saved from destruction and Godzilla Junior is revived from the explosion.48

Figure 6: A Japanese advertisement for Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995). Source: Wikipedia contributors, "Godzilla vs. Destoroyah," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Godzilla_vs._Destoroyah&oldid=1009045480 (accessed February 26, 2021). With the death of Godzilla foretold throughout its runtime, Godzilla vs. Destroyah is the final film in the Heisei series, but certainly not the least important. Despite being released four years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the “end” of the Cold War, this film offers several substantially important Cold War era messages. Notably, it presents the uncertainty that the post-Cold War world had to offer, a residual paranoia that continued to exist due to high weapons development and large stockpiles of weapons in decades prior.49 Although the Cold

War had ultimately concluded, the many peoples and nations caught between them could not relax knowing that nuclear weapons still existed. This film highlights that the nuclear fear that

48 Godzilla vs. Destroyah, directed by Takao Okawara (Toho, 1995), DVD. 49 Jerome F. Shapiro, Atomic Bomb Cinema: The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film (New York: Routledge, 2004), 215. 99

had been so prevalent during the Cold War did not easily disappear from the minds of the many

people that had endured it for so long.50 Godzilla’s inevitable and prophesized death in the film is representative of this fear, always looming and unable to be dissipated despite the best efforts of the military and government. Furthermore, this lurking destructive capability is similar to that of the radioactive fallout that hung over Japan and the Pacific Ocean from US nuclear weapons.

If Godzilla is to be understood as a creation of science gone wrong, its looming death and eventual lingering destruction in the form of radioactive fallout represent that the problem of nuclear weapons and that man’s arrogance will not go away at the signing of treaties or the collapse of individual nations. This is especially apparent from Destroyah, a creature created from a weapon detonated forty years prior that is likened to the destructive power of hydrogen weapons.51

Additionally, Godzilla’s destruction by nuclear meltdown acknowledges the many fears

that people had during and after the Cold War related to nuclear power. Originally intended as a

peaceful means of harnessing the atom, many people throughout the world reflected fear,

apprehension, and often opposition towards the prospect of nuclear reactors.52 Especially when

observing the meltdown of the Three Mile Island reactor in 1979 and the explosion of the

Chernobyl reactor in 1986, the international community often saw nuclear power as a latent

threat that could destroy surrounding areas without warning.53 Like Godzilla, both of these

examples show the destruction that can come from a nuclear reactor’s meltdown. Such a disaster

eventually befell Japan in 2011 when three of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear

power plant experienced meltdown when a tsunami created from the Tōhoku earthquake hit the

50 Ibid., 215-216. 51 Kalat, 237. 52 Weart, 280-281. 53 Bid., 336-337. 100 facility.54 The tsunami caused an inability of the plant’s ability to cool the reactors, causing the fuel rods to heat to such a level that they exploded and released significant amounts of radiation into the area. As the plant was constructed in 1971, Godzilla’s death only serves as a prophetic warning of what can come from misuse and mismanagement of nuclear power. In a world where nuclear reactors replace nuclear bombs, any town or nation can potentially experience the destruction that Japan felt from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

With Godzilla’s death, Toho concluded the Heisei series in 1995 to make way for the

American production of Godzilla (1998). However, Godzilla Junior literally rising from the ashes of its destroyed father showed that Toho was poised to eventually revive the series, which it did in 1999 with the release of Godzilla 2000. Despite consistent criticisms of the plots and storylines of many of the films within the series, the Heisei series offered many important themes and messages that were inspired by their times. From the destructive power of nuclear ICBMs in the late Cold War to man’s propensity to pollute and destroy the environment, the Heisei films allow for the fears and concerns of the Japanese people to be known. Much like the Shōwa series that preceded it, the Heisei Godzilla films offer important lessons and insights into the ideas and thoughts of their respective times. Although the Heisei was much shorter than the Shōwa, it nonetheless engaged audiences with thought-provoking ideas on how man influenced his environment. And, although the “King of Monsters” died, its legacy and message lived on long after and resonated throughout the world.

54 Rhoads and McCorkle, 173. 101

CHAPTER FOUR A NEW MONSTER: GODZILLA IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Following the death of their famed monster in Godzilla vs. Destroyah, Toho underwent a

short break in the series and allowed for the American film company Tristar to take the reins

over the franchise. However, Roland Emmerich’s 1998 production of Godzilla was a flop. It

immediately met with criticism for its poor special effects, weak acting from the cast, and a

confusing plot that involves a French spy attempting to kill an Americanized Godzilla.1 Due to

the studio’s displeasure with this film, and Toho wanting to remove themselves entirely from the

“Zilla” that Emmerich had made, the studio decided to revive a new series of films involving

Godzilla. Although the Cold War had “ended” several years prior, the executives at Toho still

wanted to produce films that reflected important contemporary issues and that might facilitate

change in Japanese society. Like the Heisei series before, the new series of Godzilla films exists as a standalone collection of films independent from either previous series in the franchise. This series is also unique in that most of the films also operate independently of each other save, perhaps, for two exceptions: Godzilla x Mechagodzilla (2002) and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

(2003). While most of these films reference the original Gojira (1954), they act and operate as self-contained projects and do not communicate with each other as did the Showa and Heisei era films.2

As such, the label “series” is much more flexible when discussing these films, but it does

not exclude them from being discussed together. Additionally, this series is often given different

names. William Tsutsui in Godzilla on My Mind refers to this series the term Shinsei (“new

generation”) whereas other audiences (mainly in the United States) refer to the series as the

1 William Tsutsui, Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 200-201. More on Tristar’s Godzilla (1998) in conclusion. 2 Ibid., 74. 102

“Millennium series” due to its release of films in and around the year 2000.3 For simplicity’s sake, and to maintain the frame and terminology established by Tsutsui, these films will be referred to here as the “Shinsei series.” While the “true” series lasted from the release of

Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999) to Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), this chapter will also include

Shin Godzilla (2016) for brevity and due to the film existing as a standalone in the Reiwa series as of this writing. This presents a significant gap of time between the release of Godzilla: Final

Wars and Shin Godzilla, but is necessary to examine the seven films produced during this period and the themes within. Thus, this chapter argues that these newest additions to the Godzilla film series contain themes reflective of contemporary Japanese and international society that attempt to facilitate change in that society. In this regard, they may be considered as a continuation of the didactic tradition established by their predecessors.

The 1998 release of Godzilla by Tristar films was met with almost instant and universal criticism, with William Tsutsui among others stating, “[t]he Tinseltown sequel was an overblown flop, a profound disappointment to Godzilla fans the world over, and (not to put too fine a point on it) a disgrace to the heritage, character, and spirit of the king of monsters.”4 Rather than relying on the theme of a slumbering monster awoken by US nuclear tests, Tristar’s Godzilla instead begins with an iguana mutating from the radioactive fallout created by French nuclear tests in French Polynesia. Additionally, the only connection that the film makes to Japan in any way is by showing the giant mutated iguana attack a Japanese fishing ship to eat the catch that the crew was hauling, leaving one survivor that dubs the creature “Godzilla”. The monster then attacks New York for no real reason, apparently traversing over Panama to reach the East Coast

3 Ibid., 45. Tsutsui also notes that Shinsei is the most common term used by Japanese moviegoers, but they also use the term “X Series” due to these films utilizing titles like “Godzilla x…” 4 Ibid., 199. 103

of the US and leave a destructive path through the iconic American city. Eventually, it is found

that the monster laid eggs in Madison Square Garden, which hatch miniature versions of the

“Zilla” that chase the cast through the arena in scenes resembling Universal Pictures’ Jurassic

Park (1993).5

Despite being released only four years after the “death” of Godzilla in Godzilla vs.

Destroyah, the 1999 release of Godzilla 2000: Millennium (or simply Godzilla 2000 as it is

called in the United States) was a way for Toho to regain control of its giant monster. The film

begins with the independent Godzilla Prediction Network (GPN) tracking Godzilla as it arrives

in northeastern Hokkaido, causing numerous natural disasters and attacking a lighthouse in the

process. The GPN, which consists of Yuji Shinoda, his daughter, and an accompanying reporter,

arrive on the scene only to be attacked by Godzilla. As the GPN manages to narrowly escape

Godzilla’s continued destructive path through Hokkaido, a group of scientists attached to the

Crisis Control Intelligence (CCI) agency locate an ancient asteroid located deep in the Japan

Trench that is estimated to have crashed there 60 million years prior. As the scientists approach

the asteroid below the sea and attach ballasts to raise it from its underwater resting place, it

reveals itself to be a dormant UFO that activates and flies away. Meanwhile, the JSDF manage to

engage Godzilla near Tokai with newly developed missiles meant to penetrate the monster’s

hardened skin until the UFO arrives and drives Godzilla back into the sea with a massive laser

beam before resting to replenish solar power. Eventually it is revealed by Shinoda that Godzilla

has radioactive regenerative properties that enable it to heal after damage.

While studying the genetic information, called Regenerator G1 in the Sony-Tristar

release to North America, Shinoda tells his scientist friend from the CCI that he had left the

5 Godzilla, directed by Roland Emmerich (Tristar, 1998), DVD. 104

university they worked at due to disagreements over the unethical applications of science being

undertaken there. At the same time, the UFO manages to break free from the JSDF and it flies to

the Tokyo Opera City Tower to drain all data on Godzilla from the computers there. As the JSDF

engages with the UFO, it begins to alter the oxygen content of the surrounding area while the

aliens on board reveal their plan to conquer Earth using Godzilla’s regenerative capabilities to

heal themselves. When Godzilla arrives to again fight the UFO, the aliens use its genetic

information to create the giant monster Millennian. The corruption of Godzilla’s cells, however,

instead turn the monster into the mutated and deformed Orga. Godzilla manages to attack the

UFO but is unable to damage Orga due to its regenerative abilities. Orga even attempts to

swallow Godzilla whole before being hit by Godzilla’s atomic ray and being killed. Following

the battle, the head of the CCI is killed by collapsing buildings, and the main characters reflect

on how Godzilla was created by human ambitions and greed.6

From an initial assessment, Godzilla 2000 and the other installments of the Shinsei films look and feel very different than previous installments in the broader Godzilla franchise.

Godzilla itself looks very different than the tall, large monster that had battled other kaiju throughout the Heisei and Shōwa, with its overall stature being much shorter and slimmer and its appearance being noticeably different. Aside from the physical appearance of the main title monster, Godzilla 2000 features significant use of computer generated imagery (CGI) and other graphical advances that set it apart from previous installments. With the advent of more sophisticated software in the 1990s for producing such imagery and graphical techniques, Toho

Studios meant to set the Shinsei era apart as fully in the new millennium.7 Although Godzilla

itself was still primarily represented by an actor in a suit and the destruction was shown using

6 Godzilla 2000: Millennium, directed by Takao Okawara (Toho, 1999), DVD. 7 Tsutsui, Godzilla on my Mind, 75. 105 models, many other elements in the film were created entirely from CGI, such as the UFO and closeups of Godzilla’s face that showed individual muscle movements. Such effects could not have even been imagined during the Shōwa era, let alone created in that series. These enhanced special effects truly set the Shinsei series apart from previous installments in the Godzilla franchise and allowed Toho once again to compete with the large budget films produced in the

United States and elsewhere.

Beyond the special effects and new appearance of Godzilla, which received mixed reactions from fans and critics, Godzilla 2000 played on many themes that had been mainstays

Figure 7: Godzilla’s new appearance in Godzilla 2000 (1999). Source: “Godzilla (G2K),” Gojipedia: King of the Wikis, https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Godzilla_(G2K). throughout the franchise that point, such as fears of nuclear weapons testing.8 Although the Cold

War had “ended” in the early 1990s and the threat of Soviet aggression had dissipated, nuclear weapons remained a notable facet of US military strategy in Asia and throughout the world. The need for the US to protect its assets and interests in East Asia by nuclear deterrence had not

8 Ibid., 76. Tsutsui notes that the new appearance of Godzilla was the main disappointment by steadfast fans, with many lamenting over size and color changes that differed from the past. However, Tsutsui also notes that the action sequences of many of the Shinsei films were exciting for fans and critics alike, with the author giving praises such as, “[t]he Shinsei Godzilla wrestles other monsters!” 106

disappeared in the new millennia.9 This “nuclear umbrella” over Korea and Japan is focused

towards deterring the People’s Republic of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) from attempting to use their military strength to conquer the

whole of the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago.10 The ominous warning of

Godzilla’s creation by these weapons at the end of the film ties directly back to the messages of the original Gojira film and other installments in the franchise. Although Godzilla defeating the

Orga and leaving Japan is presented as an inherently positive development, the kaiju’s arrival in

Japan in the first place highlights its creation by nuclear weapons and what they meant to the

Japanese people. Just as Dr. Yamane warned of a new Godzilla being created by nuclear testing at the end of Gojira, the onlookers at the end of Godzilla 2000 remark, “we scientists produced

Godzilla, and ever since we’ve tried to destroy it.”11 Additionally, this idea of the culpability of

scientists for creating monstrosities like Godzilla is a long-lasting theme throughout the entirety

of the Godzilla franchise and is on full display in Godzilla 2000. Much like Godzilla vs Biollante putting blame squarely on the scientists who attempted to tamper with nature and genetic editing, this installment openly critiques the role of science and how it can bring about great misery and destruction. In the film, the scientists who discover Godzilla’s regenerative abilities wholly

disregard the volatility of their discovery until the Millennians use the information to create the

Orga.

With the advent of genetic modification and cellular editing, real-world possibilities have

arisen for scientists to create or manipulate information locked inside DNA.12 Completed in

9 Terence Roehrig, Japan, South Korea, and the United States Nuclear Umbrella: Deterrence After the Cold War (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017), 13. 10 Ibid., 95. 11 Godzilla 2000, 1:33:15-1:33:30. 12 Mark C. Glassy, Biology Run Amok! The Life Science Lessons of Science Fiction Cinema (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018), 180. 107

2003, the Human Genome Project was an international effort that began in 1990 to determine the

sequence of DNA in the human genome and to identify genes within the human body.13 Building upon the development of previous landmarks in genetic manipulation, such as the development of CRISPR in 1987 and greater technological development, this international project was made possible by the combined efforts of many teams of international scientists with support of the state in a similar “big science” fashion as the Manhattan Project.14 Furthermore, initial

motivations for studying human genetics and beginning the project were started by researchers at

Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore laboratories in 1984 who were looking to study the long-

term effects of radiation by studying victims of the Hiroshima bombing.15 Therefore, the

movement behind genetic study and engineering connects directly back to the same issues that

created Godzilla in the first place, showing that Godzilla 2000 presented these developments and

possibilities as highly problematic.

The possibilities present in genetic editing create a scientific and moral dilemma,

whereby scientists must constantly stay within an ever-closing margin between what is

scientifically possible and what is ethically moral.16 Much like the scientists in Godzilla vs.

Biollante that had created Biollante, the hubris of the geneticists in Godzilla 2000 allowed the

creation of the Orga from the Godzilla’s genetic information. Although the scientists in the film

studying Godzilla’s cells do not directly create any damage or a monster, it is by their sheer

negligence and irresponsibility that the Orga is created. Because of their research on Godzilla’s

cells, the Millennians are able to manipulate the cells themselves and use them to create their

13 Francis Collins and David Galas, “A New Five-Year Plan for the U.S. Human Genome Project,” Science 262, no. 5130 (October, 1993): 43, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.8211127. 14 Ibid. 15 Natalie Angier, “Great 15-Year Project To Decipher Genes Stirs Opposition,” New York Times, June 5, 1990, https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/05/science/great-15-year-project-to-decipher-genes-stirs- opposition.html#:~:text=The%20critics%20argue%20that%20the,of%20support%20among%20its%20promoters. 16 Glassy, 183. 108 own monster. Unlike Dr. Serizawa in the original Gojira, the scientists in this film unwittingly bring about the creation of a new monster and never implicate themselves in its creation, nor do they take responsibility for it. In this way, they support and extend the idea of the scientist who endangers themselves and the world around them as being no better than those who had created the atomic bomb itself.17 Like those irresponsible scientists who created the bomb (Godzilla), these scientists also facilitated the creation of a monster (Orga), even if that was not their original intention. Thus, Godzilla 2000 highlights the sentiment that science had gone so far and had advanced so much that it could only bring about the destruction of the world.

Released just a year after Godzilla 2000 but inhabiting its own, separate timeline from the previous film, Godzilla x Megaguirus instead relies on the original Gojira (1954) film as background for an alternative timeline where the Oxygen Destroyer was not used to kill

Godzilla. In an introduction to the film, clips from the original Gojira are used as newsreels that explain how during the economic boom of Japan, Godzilla attacked Japan in 1954 as another form of nuclear attack against the nation. Also, in the introduction, the film discusses how the

Japanese capital had been moved to Osaka to prevent further attacks by Godzilla, but twelve years later in 1966, the kaiju attacks the first Japanese nuclear power plant built in Tokai to feed off the nuclear energy there, prompting the Japanese government to close all nuclear power plants and instead invest in solar, wind, and hydroelectric power.

However, thirty years later the demand for electricity exceeds that which could be provided, so the Japanese government again invested in a plasma power plant in Osaka, but this too is attacked by Godzilla and banned from the nation as well. Eventually in 2001, an experimental satellite that fires artificial blackholes called the “Dimension Tide” accidentally

17 Spencer R. Weart, Nuclear Fear: A History of Images (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988), 21. 109

opens a wormhole to the past, allowing a giant prehistoric dragonfly to lay an egg in the present,

which is stolen by a young boy who takes it to his new home in Tokyo. The egg starts oozing a

mysterious fluid, so the boy tosses it into a sewer, where it splits and is revealed to actually be

many eggs that hatch when exposed to the water, revealing hundreds of giant dragonfly larvae

called Meganulon. As the Meganulon grow and start to flood parts of the sewer system, Godzilla

arrives in Japan in search of a new source of energy and is engaged by the JSDF, followed by the

Meganulon that are attracted to the kaiju’s energy. Godzilla and the JSDF (with the help of the

Dimension Tide) are able to kill most of the Meganulon, but many escape and use Godzilla’s energy to feed the much larger larva of the Megaguirus (which is gendered as female in the film, similarly to Mothra). In the ensuing fight between the two monsters, Megaguirus demonstrates certain abilities similar to Godzilla’s, such as a lesser version of Godzilla’s atomic breath, showing that the giant insect was able to absorb the kaiju’s energy. The battle ultimately concludes with Godzilla catching Megaguirus in its mouth when the insect tries to sting the monster, killing her in a subsequent atomic breath blast. With Megaguirus disposed of, the JSDF fire the Dimension Tide at Godzilla, causing the monster to disappear after it fires an atomic blast in retaliation. It is discovered that Godzilla arrived in Japan in search of a secret source of plasma energy at the same institute in Osaka that had utilized it previously, but the disappearance of Godzilla nonetheless relieves the tensions of the Japanese people. As the film concludes, a massive earthquake is felt in Tokyo, followed by the ominous roar of Godzilla from a distance.18

In a similar way as to how Godzilla 2000 and other installments in the Godzilla franchise

utilize the theme of scientists as the ultimate harbinger of destruction and chaos, Godzilla x

Megaguirus displays scientific development as wholly dangerous. In the film, the development

18 Godzilla x Megaguirus, directed by Masaaki Tezuka (Toho, 2000), DVD. 110

of nuclear power, and science as a whole, is shown in a similar light as the development of

nuclear weapons. Where the latter could be used by an aggressive nation, nuclear reactors are

shown as “time bombs,” so to speak, in that they are a dormant form of the same danger.19

Alternative energy sources had been sought after since the discovery of the atom and man’s

ability to split it, but so too had debates over the safety of such sources and whether the risk

outweighed the potential costs.20 International movements against the growth of nuclear energy

had been present throughout the Cold War, with many groups advocating both for peace and for

environmental protection against the toxic and dangerous reactors.21 Coupled with protests and opposition against the testing of nuclear arms, these movements sought to protect humanity and the environment against the dormant dangers inherent in nuclear radiation as a whole.22 These

movements have lasted through the contemporary era and show obvious influences on this film.

Despite knowing the dangers present in the construction of nuclear reactors, scientists in the film

build them regardless. In fact, these scientists attempt to hide their construction of the plasma

reactor, showing that they acknowledge what they are doing is wrong but show indifference

towards the danger. The reactor is found only after Godzilla destroys it, like a moth drawn to a

lamp, representing that nuclear power as a whole can suddenly destroy surrounding areas without

warning. Effectively, this shows that these reactors and power plants are as dangerous to Japan

as an actual nuclear bomb, with Godzilla representing both of these threats.

Furthermore, the development of the Dimension Tide appears as a short-sighted decision

in the film, one that just so happened to bring Megaguirus to Japan by opening a wormhole to the

19 Weart, 280-281. 20 Ibid., 328-329. 21 Richard P. Tucker, “The International Environmental Movement and the Cold War,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War, edited by Richard H. Immerman and Petra Goedde (Oxford, Oxford University, 2013), 565. 22 Ibid., 565-566. 111

past. After it is fired at Godzilla to rid Japan of the kaiju, it leaves a devastating crater in Osaka

that resembles the destruction of Hiroshima by nuclear bombing in 1945. International debates

over the role and use of nuclear weapons had not dissipated with the end of the Cold War,

especially since the United States and other Cold War powers retained their stockpiles of these

devices.23 On one hand, the US and Japan recognized the rising threat that was China, a nation in

possession of nuclear arms that was seen as slowly spreading its hegemony throughout Asia.24

Particularly for Japan, this threat from Chinese aggression is ever-looming, due largely to its

proximity to the communist nation and continued animosity between the two nations.25 In fact,

Japan had on several occasions contemplated developing its own supply of nuclear weapons as a deterrence against China, with many analysts stating it is not a matter of if Japan will develop such weapons, but when.26 However, on the other hand, the threat of the Soviet Union had been

eliminated and, many nations, Japan included, thought of nuclear weapons as either obsolete or

unnecessary in the new millennium.27 Anti-nuclear sentiments in Japan had not disappeared in

the sixty years since Hiroshima, with Tokyo stating its outright refusal to develop such weapons

as a sign of peace and to raise awareness for Japanese victims of atomic radiation.28 Therefore,

this film highlights that science is a dangerous threat and that it directly contributed to the

nuclear bombings of Japan sixty years earlier.

23 Patrick Mannix, The Rhetoric of Antinuclear Fiction: Persuasive Strategies in Novels and Films (Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1992) 116. 24 Roehrig, 64. 25 Ibid., 64-66. Much of the hostility between China and Japan stems from the latter nation’s refusal to admit many war crimes that it had committed against China and other nations during the Second World War. 26 Llewelyn Hughes, “Why Japan Will Not Go Nuclear (Yet): International and Domestic Constraints on the Nuclearization of Japan,” International Security 31, no. 4 (Spring, 2007), 67. 27 Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, third ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 332-333.

28 Yuri Kase, “Japan's Nonnuclear Weapons Policy in the Changing Security Environment: Issues, Challenges, and Strategies,” World Affairs 165, no. 3 (Winter 2003), 123. 112

Although it has a similar title to Monster All-Out Attack (1968), the film, Godzilla,

Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (or simply Giant Monsters All-Out

Attack) follows a very different plotline but includes an interesting plot device from the original

Gojira (1954). The film begins with the JSDF being briefed on Godzilla’s first attack in 1954 while an American submarine goes missing near Guam, and is eventually found destroyed.

Camera footage of the attack reveals it was perpetrated by a giant monster. Later, Godzilla is blamed for an earthquake that buries many members of a motorcycle gang, but it is found out later that the monster that caused the earthquake is actually Baragon, a quadrupedal, horned monster that resembles a dinosaur. At the same time, several students are attacked at a lake by a

Mothra larva and a man stumbles upon a frozen Godzilla in a cave during a suicide attempt. An interview with an elderly man conducted by a journalist in the movie, Yuri Tachibana, reveals that these numerous sightings are connected to the legend of the Guardian Monsters - Baragon,

Mothra, and Ghidrah – who must all be awakened before Godzilla destroys Japan. As Yuri and her crew investigate a shrine to these Guardian Monsters, Godzilla attacks the Ogasawara Island chain, killing many of the inhabitants. Yuri is able to figure out from several interviews that

Godzilla is possessed with the restless souls of those killed during World War II, using the monster to lash out against Japan as retribution for the nation’s denial of war crimes. Eventually,

Baragon is able to intercept Godzilla near the city of Yaizu, but the battles prove favorable for

Godzilla and Yuri is injured trying to report on it. Fearing further destruction by Godzilla, the

JSDF establishes a line of defense while Mothra and a young Ghidorah move to attack the kaiju.

Mothra and Ghidrah are unable to defeat Godzilla, however, so Mothra sacrifices herself so that she can imbue her spirit in Ghidrah and transform it into King Ghidrah. King Ghidrah, now much stronger with Mothra’s soul inside it, is able to injure Godzilla and drag it out to sea, 113

but is attacked and severely injured by the JSDF when they accidentally hit the dragon with

missiles from their submarines. Using a stone from the Guardian Monster shrine, Yuri and her

colleague are able to revive King Ghidrah before a fall from a collapsing bridge. Despite this,

Godzilla manages eventually to kill King Ghidrah and release the spirits of the Guardian

Monsters, but not before the JSDF successfully launch a missile inside the monster and destroy

it. With the JSDF victorious and Godzilla vanquished, Japan celebrates the noble sacrifices of the

Guardian Monsters and the efforts of the military. As Japan rejoices, the film concludes by

showing that Godzilla’s heart remains intact and beating at the bottom of the ocean.29

Although disconnected to many of the other installments in the Godzilla franchise, Giant

Monsters All-Out Attack can be argued as having the most apparent presentation of salient issues

throughout the entirety of the Shinsei series of films. Many historians and fans consider it one of

the best films in the entire franchise, with historian William Tsutsui stating, “[i]n many respects,

Godzilla, Mothra, and Kind Ghidorah was the most pleasant surprise of the Shinsei series, and is

considered by many aficionados (me among them) one of the finest Godzilla films ever.”30

Firstly, it does not hide its anti-militarist attitudes behind metaphors or themes, openly stating that the ghosts of those killed in World War II were seeking revenge against Japan for its refusal to admit war crimes. Through today, Japan constantly still wrestles with the notion of responsibility for its role in the war, with the shadow of imperialism greatly affecting its relations with other Asian nations.31 Most notably, China still presses the Japanese government to accept

blame and recognize the war crimes perpetrated by Japanese soldiers against the Chinese people,

such as in the infamous “Rape of Nanking”. The infamous Japanese “Unit 731,” which had

29 Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, directed by Shusuke Kaneko (Toho, 2001), DVD. 30 Tsutsui, Godzilla on my Mind, 77. 31 Gordon, 333. 114 conducted lethal medical experiments on prisoners of war in Manchuria, is also often accused by

China with sufficient evidence of using chemical and biological weapons on Chinese civilians to test the effectiveness of such weapons.32 Additionally, the Imperialist Japanese military during the war established a system of “comfort women,” or conscripted sex laborers, from the many nations it conquered, which many of these nations still demand responsibility for.33

Although many dead Japanese servicemen shortly following the Second World War were viewed as heroes, Japan as a nation faced great difficulty in accepting responsibility for its role in the war and war crimes.34 Often, conservative politicians and prior militarists simply adopted an attitude of “repentance” towards their responsibilities in the war, going so far as to destroy incriminating documents rather than accept responsibility for their wartime activities.35 As evidenced by this film, many people in Japan have continued to view this inability to accept responsibility as problematic, if not morally troubling. Memories of Japan’s involvement in the war lingered at home and abroad, with many people within and outside the island nation recognizing its culpability in many war crimes, despite the government’s refusal to acknowledge them. Especially after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the beginning of the Global War on

Terror, these memories of Japan’s role in World War II resurfaced and forced the Japanese people to grapple with their nation’s involvement in that war. Following these attacks and an agreement in 1998 to work with the US in a greater capacity as a military ally, Japan became involved in Afghanistan and Iraq to serve in noncombat roles, despite heavy domestic opposition.36 Thus, the filmmakers of Giant Monsters All-Out Attack wanted to show not only

32 John Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999), 465. See also Robert Harris and Jeremy Paxman, A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret of Chemical and Biological Warfare (New York: Random House, 2002), 76-83. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid., 486-491. 35 Ibid., 496. 36 Gordon, 332. 115

that this lack of acceptance of guilt remains controversial, but that the continued refusal to accept

responsibility for the war by the Japanese government would only create continued issues for

Japan in the future.

Additionally, although it was not the main focus of the film and the plotline, Godzilla’s

arrival in Japan at Yaizu was an intentional inclusion by the filmmakers to reference the Lucky

Dragon Incident in 1954 that inspired the original Gojira film.37 Yaizu was the homeport of the

Fukuryu Maru no. 5 in 1954, and its selection as being the location of Godzilla’s attack in the

film was not a coincidence.38 However, not only is this a recognition of the tragedy itself and a

nod to the filmmakers of the 1954 installment, but it is similar to other themes in the film as a

recognition that nuclear weapons were still a looming threat to Japan and the world.39 As stated

previously in regard to the other films of the Shinsei series, the Cold War was not the end of

criticism aimed at nuclear arms, and the Castle: Bravo test was certainly not the end of Japanese

anxieties towards these weapons. Just as the continual return of Godzilla represents of the

Japanese zeitgeist during the Cold War, the monster’s arrival in the homeport of the vessel that

inspired its creation symbolizes Japan’s “nuclear allergy,” that the people of Japan are

continually predisposed to be affected by nuclear weapons and thus, morally reject them. The

environmental and nuclear concerns of the past sixty years did not simply go away, rather they

remained and inspired the themes of Giant Monsters All-Out Attack and other installments in the

Godzilla franchise, especially with the continued presence of the US military.

37 Tsutsui, Godzilla on my Mind, 77. 38 Martha Smith-Norris, “‘Only as Dust in the Face of the Wind’: An Analysis of the BRAVO Nuclear Incident in the Pacific, 1954,” The Journal of American-East Asian Relations 6, No. 1 (Spring 1997): 6. 39 Mick Broderick, “Is This the Sum of Our Fears? Nuclear Imagery in Post-Cold War Cinema,” in Atomic Culture: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, edited by Scott C. Zeman, and Michael A. Amundson (Boulder: University of Colorado Press, 2004), 142. 116

Released a year following Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, 2002’s Godzilla x

Mechagodzilla revives the old, mechanical monster Mechagodzilla in another duel against

Godzilla. Like other installments in the Shinsei series, this film begins by referencing the original

Gojira, stating that the original monster had been killed, but a new kaiju of the same species emerged in 1999. In a fight with this new Godzilla, Lieutenant Akane Yashiro is unable to kill the beast and accidentally knocks a vehicle and its occupants down a mountain only to be crushed by the kaiju, thus causing her to be demoted. However, scientists working in collaboration with the JSDF manage to construct the giant mechanized Mechagodzilla

(nicknamed Kiryu), and Akane is selected to be the primary pilot alongside the newly formed

Kiryu Squadron, which controls the mech remotely. Resentment builds among the crew, however, because one of the other pilots, Second Lieutenant Susumu Hayama, blames Akane for the death of his brother, who was in the vehicle that Akane accidentally knocked down the mountain. Four years later, Godzilla returns and Kiryu is called into action, whereupon Kiryu is able to demonstrate its wide array of weapons and features, including a cannon that fires temperatures at Absolute Zero (-459.67°F).40 However, during the fighting, the Kiryu experiences flashbacks of the original Godzilla’s attack, compelling it to go on a devastating rampage. The crew is helpless to stop it until it loses energy and powers down. Following

Kiryu’s repairs, it is again sent to defend Japan against a new Godzilla attack, with Akane sending Susumu to pilot the machine manually after Godzilla manages to stop the mech from powering up its Absolute Zero cannon. With Susumu directly in control of Kiryu, he uses the mech’s thrusters to fly both Kiryu and Godzilla into the middle of the ocean before firing the cannon, heavily damaging both the kaiju and the machine. As Godzilla retreats from Japan into

40 Depending on certain translations and characters used, Kiryu can literally mean “mechanical dragon”. 117 the ocean, the Kiryu squadron celebrate their victory and return Mechagodzilla to their base for repairs.41

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003), acting as a sequel to Godzilla x Mechagodzilla and the only film in the Shinsei series to maintain a chronology with another film in the series, follows a similar plot of the JSDF utilizing Mechagodzilla (Kiryu) to fight Godzilla and defend Japan. The film begins where the previous installment left off, with the Kiryu receiving heavy repairs following its battle with Godzilla. Mothra’s fairy priestesses appear in Japan to warn the nation that Godzilla will continue to attack because the original Godzilla’s bones were utilized in the construction of Kiryu, hence the robot’s flashbacks in the last installment. They also state that

Mothra will act as a guardian over Japan if the bones are returned to the sea, but Prime Minister

Hayato Igarashi initially refuses due to Mothra’s previous attack on Japan in 1961, which is a callback to the standalone Mothra film that was released that year. Hayato will only agree if

Kiryu manages to kill Godzilla. Godzilla arrives in Japan and is met in battle by first Mothra and then Kiryu, proving a match for both and defeating them. As the battle takes place, two of

Mothra’s larvae hatch from their eggs on Infant Island, then rush to save their mother. As Kiryu is being repaired after sustaining damage, the JSDF and larvae attempt to hold Godzilla and prevent it from attacking, but the kaiju breaks free and manages to kill Mothra before it is damaged by Kiryu. As the larvae attempt to hold down Godzilla so Kiryu’s pilot Kyosuke Akiba can finally kill the monster, the mech again has a flashback and flies itself and Godzilla out to the ocean to safety. With Japan saved by Kiryu and Godzilla no longer a threat, the film concludes by showing a secret laboratory housing the genetic information of several different kaiju including that of an unrevealed “extinct subject”.42

41 Godzilla x Mechagodzilla, directed by Masaaki Tezuka (Toho, 2002), DVD. 42 Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., directed by Masaaki Tezuka (Toho, 2003), DVD. 118

Both Godzilla x Mechagodzilla and Tokyo: S.O.S. highlight the threat of increased

scientific and technological development in the twenty-first century. Like other installments that

feature Mechagodzilla, these two films highlight how scientists are constantly working in an

effort to correct their own mistakes, but often create more problems as a result. Conventional

weapons and ordinary technological development prove no match for Godzilla’s wrath,

highlighting the dangerous effects and influences of nuclear weapons. Godzilla is also

representative a literal force of nature, suggesting that nature cannot be contained by man or

technological development. Furthermore, Kiryu engages in its own version of a destructive

rampage when battling Godzilla, showing that technology as a whole is unpredictable at best and

can present dangers to those who wish to use it. Just as Godzilla destroys cityscapes,

uncontrollable technology in the form of Kiryu engages in the same destruction with scientists

unable to stop it until it “dies out”. Additionally, this theme concerning the development of

science and technology focuses on an individual or group of scientists as the greatest enactors of

change in the world, a common thread throughout many other works of science fiction.43 In this case, Kiryu is created as a means for Japanese scientists to defend their nation against Godzilla, which serves as a constant reminder of the threat that nuclear weapons pose. However, Kiryu is also paradoxically created by the bomb, as it houses the original Godzilla’s skeleton as a supportive structure. Just as memories of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Castle: Bravo continue to pervade the Japanese zeitgeist, Kiryu continually gains sentience and has flashbacks to the original Godzilla’s attack in 1954.44 Therefore, Kiryu represents both the hope and fear inherent

43 Joyce A. Evans, Celluloid Mushroom Clouds: Hollywood and the Atomic Bomb (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998), 108. 44 Jerome F. Shapiro, Atomic Bomb Cinema : The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film (New York: Routledge, 2004), 251. 119 in technology, that it can bring about change and help solve many issues, but also that it can become the very thing it was meant to destroy.

Although the plotline barely connects to previous films in the Shinsei series and other films within the broader Godzilla franchise, Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) acts as a standalone film and creates its own storyline as a way to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the original Gojira. The film opens with a brief flashback to the super submarine Gotengo battling Godzilla in Antarctica many years prior to when the rest of the film takes place, resulting in Godzilla being trapped and frozen in the ice. As the film catches up to the present day, it is revealed that several environmental disasters caused the appearance of many monsters that had been hibernating. In an effort to contain these monsters, the Earth Defense Force (EDF) is formed, recruiting several superhuman mutants to join their ranks and battle the monsters. A newer version of the Gotengo fights one of the first monsters to appear, the giant serpent Manda, but the submarine is damaged and its captain, Douglas Gordon, is held responsible and is temporarily suspended by the EDF. After this, one of the superhumans, Shinichi Ozaki, accompanies scientist Dr. Miyuki Otonashi to study the mummified remains of a monster but they are teleported to Infant Island by Mothra’s fairy priestesses, who tell them that the mummified monster is Gigan.

As the fairies tell of a great approaching battle between good and evil, several monsters attack major cities around the world, with Rodan attacking New York City and the “Zilla” from the 1998 American film attacking Sydney. As the EDF moves to fight the monsters, a mysterious alien craft approaches and the monsters disappear. The aliens aboard the craft reveal themselves to be Xiliens and tell of a planet called Gorath that is on a collision course with the Earth, while

Godzilla’s son Minira is found in a forest. Several mutants including Shinichi figure out that 120

Gorath is really a hologram and the Xiliens reveal that they plan to use the humans as food while

also using the monsters and mutants as soldiers through control of their own genes. Shinichi is

unaffected by the Xiliens’ control and manages to escape just as Gigan is awakened by the

Xiliens to destroy the EDF, aiding the remaining EDF in awakening Godzilla (which is also

unaffected by the Xiliens’ control) to fight the other monsters. As the group of EDF agents pilot

the Gotengo to guide Godzilla, they are captured by the Xiliens and brought aboard their ship

where they summon Gorath to crash into the Earth. Godzilla manages to destroy Gorath, but the

destroyed planet reveals Monster X (Ghidrah), which battles Godzilla. As Gigan moves to aid

Monster X, Mothra arrives and manages to kill the giant cyborg before she is gravely wounded

herself. While the battle ensues below the ship, Shinichi reveals that he and other mutants belong

to a superior species known as “Keizers,” which explains why they were unable to be controlled

by the Xiliens. It is then revealed that the Xiliens’ leader X also belongs to this species, and the

two Keizers fight aboard the ship before X is wounded and subsequently triggers the ships’ self- destruct sequence. The EDF agents escape aboard the Gotengo, but only before Monster X evolves into Keizer Ghidrah, proving a dangerous match for Godzilla. Ultimately, Godzilla again proves victorious in the kaiju battle and returns to the ocean with Minira as the EDF agents aboard the submarine bid farewell.45

Like previous installments in the Godzilla series that served as a “monster mash-up,” as it

were, Godzilla: Final Wars involves similar action-packed sequences and scenes. Similar in plot to the earlier Destroy all Monsters that showed many monsters under the mind control of aliens, this film served as a way to conclude the Shinsei series and maintain Godzilla as a wholly

Japanese figure. In fact, director Ryuhei Kitamura has gone on record on numerous occasions to

45 Godzilla: Final Wars, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Toho, 2004), DVD. 121

say that he wanted Godzilla: Final Wars to be similar in feel to the late Shōwa installments in the

Godzilla franchise. In an interview by Carl Wakamoto in 2004, Kitamura stated, “[s]o back in

the ‘70s, I think that Godzilla had more power and speed. That’s what I wanted to do is to revive

that, but not in the same ways--I have to update.”46 Kitamura goes on to say, “This is the updated

version of ‘70s, crazy, monster movies.”47 Just as earlier Godzilla films utilized the theme of mind control by an alien group, this film explores how brainwashing and mind control were still possibilities, where aliens were able to manipulate people against their will and essentially trick them into following the command of a leader. Therefore, Godzilla: Final Wars references many of the Shōwa films, not only in stylistic components, but thematically as well. Just as earlier

American science-fiction films explored tropes of mind control as stand-ins for communist infiltration, this film and other within the Godzilla franchise explore this as well.

Just as Destroy all Monsters alluded to the possibilities of nuclear arms coming under the control of a rogue state or aggressor nation, so too does this film. In an age where a military armed with nuclear warheads has the means to strike out without warning at any time with the push of a button, or a technically savvy group can potentially gain access to these same weapons through a computer, nuclear war is always a possibility.48 If each of the monsters in the film is

representative of a nuclear weapon, a device that is seen as dangerous and out of control, then

Godzilla: Final Wars serves as a stark warning to those who would maintain and stockpile them.

In a similar fashion to the American film Wargames, which shows a lone “hacker” gaining

control of the United States’ stockpile of nuclear weapons and nearly starting World War III, this

46 Ryuhei Kitamura, “Ryuhei Kitamura: Revitalizing Godzilla,” interview by Carl Wakamoto, November 28, 2004, transcription by Chi Tung and Brian Yang, https://www.international.ucla.edu/ccs/article/18725. 47 Ibid. 48 David Seed, American Science Fiction and the Cold War: Literature and Film (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, 1999), 128. 122

final installment in the Shinsei series utilizes this same idea to suggest what would happen if the

world were thrust into nuclear war.49 Effectively, the two films, though spaced twenty years

apart and produced in separate countries, rely on the idea that the new millennium is just as

dangerous as the last. The insertion of environmental issues at the beginning of the film also

resembles previous installments, showing that realizations of climate change and the human

impact on the environment were as much of an existential threat as any weapon. Therefore, this

film argues that the Japanese “nuclear allergy” had lingered into the twenty-first century, with

the fears and anxieties of the people just as salient as they were decades prior.

Although part of a newer historical era, there are not enough films in Toho’s newest

“Reiwa” series to differentiate Shin Godzilla (also known as Godzilla Resurgence in the United

States) from the previous series. As such, this film will be treated as part of the Shinsei series.

The Reiwa series, which derives its name from the Reiwa Era under the current Emperor

Naruhito, has not been developed sufficiently at the time of this writing to differentiate it

sufficiently from the Shinsei.50 The film begins with the Japan Coast Guard investigating a

completely abandoned yacht in the middle of Tokyo Bay before their own boat is destroyed.

Meanwhile, the same catastrophe causes an underground tunnel through Tokyo Bay to be

flooded. Several key figures in the Japanese government theorize privately that the incident was

caused by a living creature, which is affirmed when a giant tail is seen protruding from the water.

While an evacuation is in place, the creature emerges on land and crawls on its stomach through

downtown Tokyo, killing many people who could not flee in time. As the destruction continues,

the creature evolves into a new form and is able to walk upright on two legs, but it quickly

49 Broderick, “Is This the Sum of Our Fears?” 127-128. 50 Ryo Kiyomiya, “The New Era is ‘Reiwa,’ Embassies are Notified by Fax,” Asahi Shimbun, April 1, 2019, https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASM414CT6M41UTFK00H.html?iref=pc_ss_date_article. 123 overheats and returns to the ocean to cool down. A task force headed by Deputy Chief Cabinet

Secretary Rando Yaguchi is assembled to investigate the creature. He theorizes that due to high levels of radiation in the city, the creature feeds off nuclear energy to survive. It is discovered that a zoologist previously predicted the monster’s arrival while investigating the effects of radiation on animals but was disregarded at the time by Japan and the US. In an effort to quiet the zoologist, the US assassinated him aboard his yacht, the very one shown at the beginning of the film, which left the scientist’s coded notes undeciphered. When the notes are finally translated, they reveal the monster’s name to be Godzilla, but only just before Godzilla resurfaces again near Kamakura in a much larger form.

The JSDF and US Air Force are mobilized to attack and destroy Godzilla but are defeated by atomic rays firing out of the kaiju’s dorsal fins. Following the battle, Godzilla immobilizes itself in a dormant state, allowing the task force headed by Yaguchi to conclude that Godzilla’s blood acts as a cooling agent and the monster could be defeated by freezing it. However, the

United Nations attempts to intervene with thermonuclear weapons after it is discovered that

Godzilla can continue to evolve and reproduce asexually. Evacuations are undertaken, but the task force calls on the assistance of the international community to aid them in their deep-freeze plan. As US drones distract the monster, the JSDF detonate several buildings in the city and release subway trains at Godzilla’s feet to knock it over and freeze it with liquid nitrogen.

Following Godzilla’s slumber, the international community assists Japan in the reconstruction of

Tokyo, warning the use of nuclear weapons should the monster reawaken. As the film concludes, 124

Godzilla’s frozen tail is shown to have ominous looking human figures on its tip, which appear to have been emerging from the tail itself when it was frozen.51

Figure 8: A Japanese advertisement depicting Godzilla in its final form in Shin Godzilla (2016). Source: Wikipedia contributors, "Shin Godzilla," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shin Godzilla&oldid=1006420082. Rather different than many of the other installments in the Godzilla franchise, Shin

Godzilla serves as one of the most salient representations of the contemporary Japanese zeitgeist since the release of the original Gojira. Instead of fighting another monster, Godzilla is a threat on its own and is shown as the most dangerous threat to Japan. This film was released five years after the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor disaster of 2011, wherein a tsunami caused by an earthquake knocked out power to the reactor and caused it meltdown.52 The additional flooding by the tsunami caused the deaths of roughly 20,000 Japanese civilians, who either drowned or starved to death.53 Shin Godzilla means to reference these events, calling to light the inability and unwillingness of the Japanese government to actually put forward actions that would protect and rescue its people. William Tsutsui in an article published in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette

51 Shin Godzilla, directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi (Toho, 2016), DVD. 52 Sean Rhoads and Brooke McCorkle, Japan’s Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018), 173. 53 Ibid. 125

states, “Shin Godzilla leaves no doubt that the greatest threat to Japan comes not from without

but from within, from a geriatric, fossilized government bureaucracy unable to act decisively or

to stand up resolutely to foreign pressure.”54 In the film, government officials, save for the task

force, are seen prioritizing meeting times and conferences, rather than actually attempting to

solve the issues posed by Godzilla’s arrival. It is only through a small team that any work is able

to be done, but even with the task force enacting plans and working to combat the threat, the

presence of radiation and the US military’s insistence on using thermonuclear weapons looms

over these individuals. Following the disaster at Fukushima, great levels of distrust from the

Japanese people towards their government arose as government and energy companies attempted

to mislead the public and cover up the level of damage caused by the catastrophe.55 Godzilla, which is shown in its largest in the entire Godzilla franchise and towering nearly 120 meters in the air, is a constantly evolving threat, paralleling Japan’s experience in suffering through evolving threats from nuclear radiation.

Tsutsui and others acknowledge the poignant messages that point directly to the Japanese government’s inability to tackle the issues posed by the 2011 tsunami, but this thesis argues that the beast depicted also represents Japan’s long-time “nuclear allergy” experienced since 1945.

The disaster at Fukushima brought up many painful memories for the Japanese people of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with many viewing Fukushima as another atomic bombing on Japan.56

Despite acknowledging the film’s references to the Japanese government and its deliberations,

Tsutsui states, “In general, however, Shin Godzilla tiptoes around Japan’s lingering anxieties

54 William Tsutsui, “Review: Shin Godzilla,” Arkansas Democrat Gazette, October 7, 2016, https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/oct/07/shin-godzilla-20161007/?f=entertainment. 55 Susan Lindee, “ Survivors and Scientists: Hiroshima, Fukushima, and the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, 1975-2014,” Social Studies of Science 26, no. 2 (2016), 185. 56 Ibid. 126 from 2011. The creature’s attacks generate no tsunamis, no nuclear facilities are imperiled in the film, and even Godzilla’s formidable radiation plume ends up drifting harmlessly out into Tokyo

Bay.”57 The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Castle: Bravo test, and the Fukushima

Daiichi disaster all directly affected and hurt the Japanese people as a whole. Following the latter, the nation temporarily shut down all of its nuclear reactors to rid itself of nuclear energy altogether to protect its people from similar disasters in the future.58 Although the Japanese government ultimately decided to restart them in 2015, and Japan stays committed to its nuclear energy programs, the disaster was enough to engage with Japanese anxieties and memories surrounding nuclear radiation.

Just as Japan’s nuclear allergy has evolved since 1945, so too does Godzilla in this film, constantly changing its form to inflict further death and destruction upon the Japanese people. In its first form, Godzilla is shown as a literal force of nature, dragging ships ashore in a similar fashion to the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011. Scenes of the creature crawling through the canals and waterways of Tokyo could be easily mistaken for videos depicting the tsunami, with the water clogged with debris and causing severe damage to the metropolitan area. The wanton destruction continues following several more evolutions, toppling buildings and destroying infrastructure similar to an earthquake. The kaiju in its final form is depicted as a charred, grotesque beast, even more resemblant of keloid scarring on radiation burn victims than the original monster in Gojira. The monster also carries radiation with it wherever it travels through its rampage, contaminating various metropolitan locations similar to the 2011 reactor meltdown.

Although a minor detail, instead of the traditional form showing its palms down, the beast’s hands are symbolically turned upward, as if it were asking “Why? Why was I created?” In this

57 Ibid. 58 Roehrig, 121. 127

way, the film producers acknowledge what Tomoyuki Tanaka said many years ago regarding the

original Godzilla, that “[t]he theme of the film, from the beginning, was the terror of the Bomb.

Mankind had created the Bomb, and now nature was going to take revenge on mankind.”59

Similarly to how radiation from the atomic bombings in 1945 directly affected the health of surrounding populations, Fukushima dramatically changed and influenced human populations following the meltdown, causing the Japanese government to prohibit human habitation in certain areas.60

Although Toho Studios has briefly ceased production of traditional Godzilla films,

instead producing an animated series of films for Netflix, Warner Brothers and Legendary

Pictures recently began a series of their own films under the Godzilla trademark that are targeted

more at American audiences. Just as American films once inspired the producers of the original

Gojira (1954), Toho’s Godzilla series has returned the favor and inspired American productions

of these films. Using this new series to produce a “monsterverse,” a collection of films that tie

together and ultimately have a long and connected storyline, Warner Brothers has made Godzilla

more accessible to greater audiences than had ever been possible prior.61 However, these films do not connect to the fears present within the other Godzilla films produced by Toho, instead relying on the US as the main destination for these monsters and the force that ultimately is able to defeat them. What was intended as a necessarily Japanese monster that relied on the fears and imaginations of the Japanese people was instead transformed into an American monster that nearly always exonerated the United States from blame.

59 Tsutsui, Godzilla on my Mind, 18. 60 Lindee, 200. 61 Seemingly, the term “monsterverse” is a portmanteau of the words “monster” and “universe,” reflective of a growing desire from American audiences to have a much more connected series of film series. 128

Despite its fame and wider acceptance by audiences, Warner Brothers’ “monsterverse”

collection still possesses many of the same faults as Tristar’s Godzilla, with the US acting as the

main destination of attack instead of Japan. Instead of stating that US nuclear tests had created

Godzilla, these films state that the tests were used as a means to kill the King of Monsters when

it had been awoken by these same tests.62 The first film in the series, simply titled Godzilla, reimagines a disaster similar to that which occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011, but nonetheless removes many of the original themes present throughout the Godzilla franchise produced by Toho.63 Additionally, these films revive key characters in Toho’s series, such as

Ghidrah and Mothra, but they make no attempt to connect them back to the original themes in which they were intended. The second film, titled Godzilla, King of the Monsters (2019) in a

similar fashion to the 1956 remake of the same title, portrays the many monsters within fighting

over the right to be the apex predator.64 Like Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964),

Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra side together to defeat Ghidrah, but the connections to the original

franchise cease there as the monsters are seen battling in the Gulf of Mexico and Boston. The

latest film, titled Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), appears to be similar to the original King Kong vs.

Godzilla (1962), but again does not connect to the themes present within that film.65 The two

famous kaiju fight as they did in 1962, with Kong seemingly a means for humans to fight an

uncontrollable Godzilla, but misses the thematic connections made in the first film. Much like

the original Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) taking a wholly Japanese film and stripping it

of its thematic issues, so too have these latest American productions.

62 Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards (Warner Brothers, 2014), Blu-Ray. 63 Sean Rhoads and Brooke McCorkle, Japan’s Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018), 177. 64 Godzilla, King of the Monsters, directed by Michael Dougherty (Warner Brothers, 2019), Blu-Ray. 65 Godzilla vs. Kong, directed by Adam Wingard (Warner Brothers, 2021), film. 129

Although entertaining and featuring Godzilla fight monsters and attack cities like the

original Godzilla franchise, the absence of important and clear themes within these American

productions highlights their importance in Toho’s films. Godzilla was created as a Japanese

figure, a representation of the memories, fears, and anxieties that inhabited many people within

Japan. From the kaiju’s creation in Gojira (1954) through the release of Shin Godzilla (2016),

the “King of Monsters” has been inspired by and has inspired the evolving Japanese zeitgeist and

beliefs. Fueled by the fears and concerns of Toho Studios and the many creators working on the

films, the Godzilla franchise has constantly been inspired by the concurrent times and attitudes of the releases of the many films. Therefore, this thesis concludes that which has already been stated numerous times, that the films of the Godzilla franchise contain many themes and

messages inspired by Japanese memories, fears, and anxieties that mean to invoke socio-political

change.

Through its entire lifespan, Godzilla was meant as a creation of the bomb, a stark

reminder of man’s folly and his incessant need to change the world around him. On numerous

occasions and in numerous series, Godzilla was born out of the detonation of nuclear bombs, a

stand-in for the effects of radioactive fallout released by such weapons. Just as the original

Gojira film referred to these errors, along with the various installments of the Shōwa and Heisei,

so too did the installments of the twenty-first century. These films not only build upon previous

themes and ideas that had already been mainstays in the series, such as nuclear war, they also

built upon the concerns of the Japanese people of their times, such as climate change and the role

of technology. With the advent of internet-based entertainment and the growth of home video

systems, these newer films have had the capacity to reach greater audiences than any

installments prior, thus bringing Godzilla roaring into the homes of many people worldwide. 130

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION

Following his release from captivity in China at the end of World War II, Ishirō Honda

made his way home to his family in Tokyo aboard a train. It took him about seven months to

even get on this train as his repatriation was delayed due to the civil war in China. However, on

his way home, Honda was able to see first-hand the destruction that had occurred in the city of

Hiroshima. The train stopped only briefly in the city and much of the area surrounding the

station was boarded up, so Honda was unable to see very much, but the impact of the destroyed

city left an indelible mark on him. The devastation of Hiroshima, coupled with his country being

scarred physically and emotionally by the war, had a lasting impact on Honda. Although he

never discussed publicly what he saw in Hiroshima, he repeatedly stated in interviews that this

was his inspiration for Gojira, a monster created by “the bomb”.1

Although the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was devastating, taking the lives of

many thousands of Japanese, Koreans, and even some Americans, this destruction was not

isolated to these two cities. Another 64 major cities throughout Japan, including Tokyo, bore the

brunt of American heavy bombing during the Second World War, rendering 30 percent of the

Japanese urban population homeless and killing many more.2 In combination with the atomic

destruction wrought by nuclear weapons, much of Japan lay in ruins from heavy conventional

and fire-bombing that was conducted by the US military. Much like the destruction of Hiroshima

impacting a young Ishirō Honda returning home, the many levelled cities within Japan had an

emotionally devastating effect on the Japanese people at the end of this war, a war many of them

1 Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, From Godzilla to Kurosawa (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2017), 40. 2 John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999), 45. 131

believed to have been justified or even “holy”.3 These memories, coupled with the anxieties of

the developing Cold War, revealed themselves in the many themes, messages, and images of the

Godzilla franchise.

These films were largely inspired by existing American films that explored many of the same topics of nuclear weapons and war. Similar to how The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and

Them! highlighted American fears regarding nuclear weapons testing and the spread of

Communism, the Godzilla films developed these ideas to suit a Japanese audience by tapping

into the national zeitgeist. Just as many of the American science-fiction films of the day depict

monsters attacking American cities and address themes concerning man’s place in nature and the

role of science in the modern world, the Godzilla franchise plays a similar role in Japan by

addressing many of these same themes inspired by fears and anxieties experienced by the

Japanese people. Of course, it should not be insinuated that every person in Japan thought, felt, or believed the same, but an exploration of the Godzilla franchise reveals that such concerns were commonly shared among the general populace, at least enough so to be taken up as a central theme in the respective films.

As a whole, the Godzilla franchise has also impacted the international community

tremendously, with the “King of Monsters” itself becoming one of the most recognizable

Japanese “celebrities” or figures in the United States.4 Much like American cinema had once

inspired people around the world at the prosperity and grandeur of American life, so too has

Godzilla inspired children and adults with ideas of giant monsters battling each other and

destroying cities. The selling of Godzilla movies and merchandise in America helped to spread

3 Ibid., 45. 4 William Tsutsui, Godzilla on my Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 7. 132

Japanese popular culture throughout the United States, while also bolstering Japan’s postwar economy. Of course, many audiences may not realize that Godzilla is representative of Japanese memory of trauma, fears, and anxieties, but the spread of the monster has undoubtedly had a lasting impact on both Japan and the international community. This has allowed the themes and messages within the many installments of the Godzilla franchise to reach audiences and bring about change. Themes that explore memories of World War II, fears of nuclear weapons and war, anxieties targeted at the development of science and technology, Japan’s postwar economic

“miracle” and many others are seen throughout this franchise.

Unlike existing scholarship that either neglects these themes or the films that contain them, this thesis concludes that the Godzilla franchise has had a lasting impact on Japanese and international society, bringing about change in the minds of audiences worldwide. Where

William Tsutsui, David Kalat, and other scholars state that there is little historical value in these films beyond recognizable fears of nuclear war and the environment, this thesis has argued that the entire Godzilla franchise stands as a historical record of the fears and anxieties of the

Japanese people in the postwar era. Audiences’ interpretations of these films vary, with many viewers being unable to uncover the metaphors that the themes suggest, but they are nonetheless impactful. By exploring these themes, this thesis has demonstrated not only that they exist, but that they can serve as a valuable tool for exploring the history of Japan the Cold War.

The films of the Early Shōwa Period of the franchise, which here is framed as 1954-1956, presents many images and themes pertaining to Japan’s postwar years. Images of cities burning, characters lamenting over returning to air raid shelters, scenes of Imperial Japanese forces from the war, references to the American occupation, criticism of nationalist Imperialism and militarism, and other similar themes and scenes of trauma are present throughout this early part 133 of the series. This war left a lasting impact on Japan, a conflict that destroyed the country both physically and mentally. Along with Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Tokyo, many cities throughout

Japan had been reduced to rubble and ruins. The American occupation which followed the war left a mark on Japan as well, defining its relations with the US through today. The infamous

Lucky Dragon incident was seen by many people in Japan as a third use of nuclear weapons against their country, giving birth to heavy anti-American sentiments along with Godzilla itself.

With its economy aided largely by the onset of the Korean War, it seemed like Japan could not escape war itself nor the trauma of its own wartime past. Traumatic memories of the war and

Japan’s role in it pervade the Early Shōwa series of films and are evident throughout this period of the Godzilla franchise.

Eventually, the Shōwa series evolved to focus more on Cold War themes related to this period, such as fears of nuclear war, nuclear weapons proliferation, fears of Communist infiltration and aggression, anxieties concerning the development and misuse of science and technology, criticisms of industrial pollution and man’s interference with nature, and many more.

Similar to the earlier producers that inserted themes of postwar Japan into the Early Shōwa, the film makers in this period of the Godzilla franchise inserted themes of the Cold War into these installments. Many times, the giant kaiju in these films stood in as representatives of the different nations during the Cold War, such as the US and USSR, or nuclear weapons themselves. The destructive power wrought by these creatures is reminiscent of that brought on by nuclear weapons, showing a clear connection between themes in the films and real fears. These films also criticize the use of science as a means to counter Earth’s natural order, often portraying science and technology as the ultimate means of bringing danger to Japan. 134

Following a pause in the production of the Godzilla franchise, the Heisei series of films followed along similar patterns as the previous series by addressing important and clear themes inspired by the concurrent, historical period. Themes from this period are similar to those of the

Shōwa and include fears of nuclear war between the US and USSR; fears of the development and misuse of science and technology, notably genetic engineering and nuclear power; Japan’s economic boom and bust of the 1980s-1990s; anxieties surrounding the collapse of the Soviet

Union; and many others. Although these films do not connect to the previous series of films beyond referencing the original Gojira, they incorporate many of the same and consistent ideas that had been notable throughout earlier installments. These films were also notable in their improved quality from the Shōwa films, showcasing improved studio budgets and the ability of

Toho to produce higher quality films that portray their themes more clearly.

Likewise, the most recent collection of films in the Shinsei and Reiwa series of films incorporate and draw upon many of these same ideas. This era was notable in that it existed totally outside the Cold War and into the current millennium, focusing more on contemporary issues such as the Global War on Terror and the rebirth of militaristic nationalism, anxieties connected to nuclear power, the Fukushima Daiichi disaster of 2011, and many more.

Additionally, memories of the Cold War still pervaded this series and these installments, as shown by the continued portrayal of kaiju as representations of nuclear weapons. This series is unique in that it concerns issues that are still present in contemporary Japan, but portrays these issues in the same formulaic way as the previous films that focused on the Cold War and contemporary issues. Just as earlier installments were inspired largely by concurrent issues and the Japanese zeitgeist during the Cold War, the Shinsei and Reiwa films of the Godzilla franchise reflect issues and concerns that influence Japan today. 135

While many of the films in the Godzilla franchise were necessary attempts by Toho

Studios at creating ticket or merchandise revenue, especially with the rise of television and film

studios needing to compete with this format, the underlying themes are still visible in many of

them. Wielding fears and anger forged in the fires of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the films’

messages were sharpened and honed in the face of the Fukuryu Maru incident and other events

of the postwar period. Additionally, the idea of nuclear destruction still remained in the minds of

Japan in the 1960s-1970s, latched there by fear of war between capitalism and communism. The

end and eventual resolution of the Cold War brought about a great sigh of relief from the world,

but nuclear fears and concerns over the environment did not abate. These films are reflections of

the zeitgeist of the Japanese people, demonstrating their concerns for the past, present, and future. While some of the interpretations of the themes present in the films may be dismissed as

coincidence, it can also be said that many were intentional, intended as a means to influence and

shape the minds of the youth of Japan. As the target audiences shifted from Japanese adults to

children and Americans, the plots began to become more convoluted and the messaging was

often obscured or lost altogether, but these elements were nonetheless still there.5 The monster,

who was once an image of the effects of radioactive fallout on Japan, transformed into a hero or

protector of Japan. Later, this image shifted to that of an ambiguous threat, posing danger and

uncertainty to the world. In all, the King of the Monsters is itself an image of Japan, a nation still

gripped by memories of a burning Hiroshima and fears of nuclear war.6 These films were created

to tackle these fears, an attempt to provide a voice for those still suffering. A man wearing a latex

suit stomping on miniature renditions of Japanese cities was representative of the destruction that

man wrought upon himself.

5 Ibid., 86-87. 6 Ibid., 91-92. 136

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APPENDIX A: TIMELINE OF TOHO STUDIO’S GODZILLA FRANCHISE

The Shōwa Series: 1954: Gojira, directed by Ishirō Honda. 1955: Godzilla Raids Again (a.k.a. Gigantis, the Fire Monster), directed by Motoyoshi Oda and Takeo Murata. 1956: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, directed by Terry Morse and Ishirō Honda. 1956: Rodan, directed by Ishirō Honda. 1962: King Kong vs. Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda. 1964: Mothra vs. Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda. 1964: Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, directed by Ishirō Honda. 1965: Invasion of Astro-Monster, directed by Ishirō Honda. 1966: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, directed by Jun Fukuda. 1967: Son of Godzilla, directed by Jun Fukuda. 1968: Destroy all Monsters (a.k.a. Monster All-Out Attack), directed by Ishirō Honda. 1969: Godzilla’s Revenge (a.k.a. All Monsters Attack), directed by Ishirō Honda. 1971: Godzilla vs. Hedorah, directed by Yoshimitsu Banno. 1972: Godzilla vs. Gigan, directed by Jun Fukuda. 1973: Godzilla vs. Megalon, directed by Jun Fukuda. 1974: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, directed by Jun Fukuda. 1975: Terror of Mechagodzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda. 1984: Gojira 1985, directed by Koji Hashimoto.

The Heisei Series: 1989: Godzilla vs. Biollante, directed by Kazuki Ōmori. 1991: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, directed by Kazuki Ōmori. 1992: Godzilla vs. Mothra, directed by Takao Okawara. 1993: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, directed by Takao Okawara. 1994: Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla, directed by Kensho Yamashita. 1995: Godzilla vs. Destroyah, directed by Takao Okawara.

The Shinsei/Reiwa Series: 1999: Godzilla 2000: Millennium, directed by Takao Okawara. 2000: Godzilla x Megaguirus, directed by Masaaki Tezuka. 2001: Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, directed by Shusuke Kaneko. 2002: Godzilla x Mechagodzilla, directed by Masaaki Tezuka. 2003: Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., directed by Masaaki Tezuka. 2004: Godzilla: Final Wars, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura. 2016: Shin Godzilla, directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi.