The history of  Japan and its people has been rife with periods of rapid building, great prosperity, destruction, and then eventual rebirth. These cycles have become so ingrained in the Japanese culture, that one can only wonder if the “Kaiju films” (Japanese monster movies) and their like are not somehow the product of this cultural ethos. Japan was only nine years away from the events of Hiroshima, and was in the midst of an enormous rebuilding phase, when the first of the Gojira (Godzilla) movies was released in 1954. The film was originally developed to make an anti-nuclear statement, arising from a true event occurring during the Bikini Tests. A Japanese fishing boat had strayed into the test area, and its crew was exposed to severe amounts of radiation when the bomb exploded. 

Kaiju theorist, Tom Miller, believes that Godzilla represents the terrible and mysterious  dangers existing in the world outside of Japan…particularly dangers involving the United States.

“Godzilla’s very name emphasizes the monster’s foreign nature. Gojira, as he is called in Japan, has his name spelled in Katakana, the written characters used in Japan to represent foreign words. The Katakana rendering could easily have been written as the Hiragana spelling instead. The course of Gojira follows the war in the Pacific as seen from the eyes of an ordinary Japanese. At first, there are reports of ships sunk, representing Japan’s naval defeats and the destruction of its merchant marine fleet by US submarines. The government debates releasing this news, just as the wartime government heavily censored the reports of such defeats as Midway. The ship losses are disturbing, but not immediately threatening. Then Godzilla emerges on Oda Island, which stands for all the islands lost to the US, in particular Okinawa, the closest. Godzilla/US now threatens Japan directly. The monster’s attack on Tokyo mirrors the destruction wrought by the US Air Forces. Japan’s armed forces are helpless against the power of Godzilla. Japan’s fighter planes drive back Godzilla temporarily, but clearly without harming the Kaiju. Unlike the real war, this allegorical one ends with a Japanese victory as Dr. Serizawa’s kamikaze attack in Tokyo Bay destroys the enemy. Yet the real threat presented by the US was not defeated and continued to be depicted in subsequent films.”

As the years have passed, and relations with the United States warmed, Godzilla seems to have evolved into Japan’s protector of sorts. Other monsters like Ghidra (China) and Rodan (Russia) have arisen to threaten the Japanesse homeland, however, thanks to  Godzilla, they seem to have been kept in check through sort of strategic balance of powers.

“Over time, Godzilla’s symbolic role began to change, representing different perspectives of Japan’s relationship with the US.  Increased acceptance of the US as Japan’s friend and ally, coupled with an increasing identification of Godzilla as a Japanese symbol would ultimately lead to a role reversal for the Kaiju. In Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (Sandai Kaiju: Chikyu Saidai No Kess 1964) a new threat arises: China, which had recently exploded its first atomic bomb, thus entering the ranks of the superpowers. The view of Japan depicted in Ghidrah is that of a tiny nation surrounded by large, dangerous ones. Again, Mothra represents the resources of the Pacific used in Japan’s defense. Mothra will help Japan immediately upon request although such help is no longer sufficient by itself. Japan’s infant military status vis-a-vis the nuclear powers is emphasized by the depiction of Mothra throughout the film in the larval stage. Godzilla continues to represent the US, while Rodan assumes the role of the USSR. Japan’s image of these two are a bleak one. Godzilla and Rodan are interested only in fighting each other, unconcerned about any collateral damage suffered by Japan; after all, they say they have “had trouble” with Japan in the past. Even the threat of a resurgent Ghidrah/China does not rouse them to action. Only when they are shamed/inspired by Mothra’s hopeless, kamikaze-style attack against Ghidorah do Godzilla and Rodan stop fighting each other to help fight Ghidorah. Ghidorah’s large size and power represents the Japanese fear of the size and proximity of a nuclear-armed China, a threat more deadly than that of the US. The film ends with the disappearance of the Western Kaiju Godzilla and Rodan. Only the Asian Kaiju, Mothra and Ghidorah, are seen alive at the film’s conclusion.”

Now that the Cold War is over, and much of the world finds itself debt-ridden and facing an uncertain economic future, will Godzilla come to symbolize something else once again? Instead of sinking boats, will Godzilla now sink budgets?

[This post is dedicated to my fellow Admin. “weeweed”….a brave and valiant foe of Godzilla.]