Godzilla: It’s serious business

Godzilla: It’s serious business

Godzilla (Gojira, ゴジラ) is widely regarded as being one of the most iconic characters in Japanese popular culture. Since his debut in Ishiro Honda’s 1954 film Gojira, he has starred in further films, novels, video games, comic books, TV series and more. The runaway success of the Godzilla character spawned an entire genre known as the Kaiju (かいじゅう, 怪獣) genre, which roughly translates to ‘monster’ or ’strange beast’.

The original 1954 Gojira told a cautionary tale about the dangers of mankind experimenting with weapons of mass destruction. It is suggested that the savage monster Godzilla was summoned as a result of mankind’s use of nuclear weapons. At the time, the recent memory of the terrible events surrounding Nagasaki and Hiroshima led many people to believe that Godzilla was a metaphor for the United States and the risk of recurring nuclear attacks.