Godzilla: Japan’s Journey and Relations with the World in Recent Films

Godzilla has been brought into the limelight by recent films made in Japan. In 2016, the film Shin Godzilla was released and captivated audiences across Japan to entail a release of the film abroad. The movie takes place in Tokyo, and shows the city coming to grips with an attack from the monster. But the movie is a little different from past depictions of Godzilla attacking Japan. The movie focuses on the instrument of government in Japan with the main character being part of the government tasked with acting in response to the attack from Godzilla. Japan’s relationship with the United States and the rest of the world are on display within the film as Japan responds.

In 2023, another movie entitled Godzilla Minus One was released. Distinct from the 2016 movie, the film goes into the past and looks at Japan’s post-war period. The movie brings to the surface several themes about Japan finding its way in the world after the events of World War 2. While the military has been disbanded, the United States does not come to Japan’s aid and Japan is left to fight the creature that attacks their country. Japan’s struggle to find a way forward is put front and centre in the film with Godzilla the challenge that gives glory.

Films have a way of bringing questions to the surface about our relationship with others and the rest of the world. They have a way of playing on how we view the world and how we see the world changing around us – whether for better or for worse. Here is no different, despite the focus of the film being a monster. Godzilla and how he is depicted in Japanese cinema has a lot to tell us about Japan’s view of itself and how Japan’s relationship with others has changed. Looking at these two recent films in detail, what do these movies tell us about Japan’s relationship with the rest of the world?

A Path Forward for a Kamikaze Pilot

The movie Godzilla Minus One focuses on the story of a kamikaze pilot. Unwilling to find the end and complete his mission, he instead seeks out shelter and finds an island with a landing strip and a group of aeroplane mechanics. Immediately after the pilot lands, Godzilla attacks and the main character is exposed to Godzilla for the first time. The creature in many ways symbolises Japan coming to terms with the destruction it has created being on the receiving end rather than the executing end. The group of mechanics do not survive. The airfield on the island is destroyed.

The word kamikaze means in Japanese, the wind blowing with you. At the time, young men were trained and indoctrinated into the idea that their sole purpose in serving their Emperor was to find a target and fly into it. After the war, we see in the movie this sentiment on display. The neighbour of the kamikaze pilot accuses him of being a traitor. The pilot is left pondering what his purpose is now given that the war is over and he failed to do what he was trained to do. Japan still features museums dedicated to kamikaze pilots and the struggle the boys went through to come to terms with the fact that they were going to kill themselves to achieve their purpose.

It is not until after Japan surrenders and the war has concluded that Godzilla attacks the city of Tokyo. The pilot finds himself with a young lady who has brought with her a young orphan. Japan begins to pick itself up and repair itself after the bombing of the country only to find itself dealing with Godzilla. With the military unable to deal with Godzilla, and the United States unwilling to come to Japan’s aid, the young pilot finds his purpose in attacking Godzilla with a plane concluding the movie. While the story focuses on a character whose past makes him seem more in line to be the villain, instead he finds a way forward for himself completing his purpose without killing himself.

The story, I think, tells us some things about Japan and holds several lessons about Japan’s war history. It highlights how we can serve a purpose without fighting in death and how we can do this without being an instrument of a war crazy state. The pilot finds a way forward as a father and as a more human character than what we see at the start. He now has people to take care of and a reason to stay alive beyond killing himself and others with his training as a kamikaze pilot. The transition of this character from war to peace in a way symbolises the journey Japan went through after the war.

Reflecting on Relations with World

Godzilla Minus One is set in a very difficult time for Japan. Japan’s path to where it was now came with many twists and turns during this period. In 1960 for instance, a political debate about Japan’s relationship with the United States ended with the killing of the leader of the Social Party of Japan on national television. In the lead up to the incident Asanuma, the leader of the Japanese Socialist Party, had visited China and advocated publicly that the United States was “the shared enemy of China and Japan”. Mass protests occurred when he arrived back in Japan, with public opinion strongly against any revision of the treaty Japan had established with the United States after the end of World War Two.

However, Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One both paint interesting pictures of Japan’s relationship with the United States. In Godzilla Minus One the United States does not come to the aid of Japan when Godzilla is spotted off the coast and begins to attack naval vessels. According to the movie, Japan is on its own when it comes to dealing with Godzilla. This gives us an interesting window into an alternative past where Japan is forced to reflect on its relations with the rest of the world. The movie does not dwell too much on the fact that the United States is not coming to Japan’s aid. But it is interesting to consider that the strong sentiment against revising Japan’s treaty with the United States may not have existed in this alternative world. Would Japan and the United States remain strong allies?

The photo above of the Socialist Leader of Japan being stabbed by an extreme nationalist is iconic and shows the strong feelings at the time against going back to a time when Japan and the United States were enemies. It shows the public coming to terms with the harm that had been caused by the events of World War Two and a strong reluctance to move back to that in any way, shape or form. More recently Japan’s Constitution was revised to entail Japan’s Self Defence Forces can be used without Japan being attacked. In Godzilla Minus One former members of the military are forced to take up the role of defending Japan against Godzilla and quickly put back in place naval ships able to fight Godzilla. A number of characters voice reservations about doing this. Things have changed since then.

In 2010, Japan had a diplomatic incident with China. A Chinese fishing boat was caught ramming Japanese coast guard vessels resulting in the arrest and temporary detention of the captain of the Chinese vessel. China responded by cancelled official meetings with Japan and held back exports of certain needed material from Japan. In the end, Japan relented and the captain of the fishing boat when home. China asserted its claim of the Senkaku islands in response to the incident and Japan was concerned to the point of looking to the United States for help.

The events of Shin Godzilla mirror this looming concern for Japan that the United States may not come to their aid. The United States being lost at sea diplomatically during the Trump Presidency only reinforced this concern that the United States may not have Japan’s interests at heart. In Shin Godzilla, officials in Japan and an American diplomat of Japanese decent express frustration at how the United States navigates Godzilla attacking Japan. The United States aligns itself with other nations that advocate for a harsh method of dealing with Godzilla that has grave consequences for Japan. Each time Japan finds itself in trouble it is forced to ask the United States to renew its vows and suffer if the United States decides to go its own way. This is vividly apparent in Shin Godzilla.

Moving Forward with a Difficult Past

On August 6th 1945 the city of Hiroshima was the site of an atomic attack. The event created an immense amount of suffering for the occupants of the city and the scars of that event live on in the reminder of what these kinds of weapons do when they are used. When Godzilla attacks in Shin Godzilla we see frustration from officials and diplomats of Japanese background because the world decides that the best way to kill Godzilla is by nuking Tokyo. During the movie the American diplomat responds in shock when notified of what the plans are. Godzilla poses a real threat but dropping a third weapon like this on Japan seems a step too far. The audience is reminded of this with a brief flash back to photographs taken immediately after the bombing of Hiroshima took place.

The movie comes to a crossroads at this point and the government officials have to find some sort of way forward otherwise watch Tokyo be bombed. Initially, the Japanese military struggled with dealing with Godzilla. A scene shows tanks and military drones attempting to kill Godzilla. Godzilla remains very much alive and continues destroying Tokyo. While Tokyo is evacuated and the city begins to empty out the government devices a plan to freeze the creature using a special method policy workers in the government have come up with. The plan is a success.

While part of the movie is about Japan’s relationship with the rest of the world, part of the movie is also about Japan moving forward. Rather than being under the United States and having history repeat itself Japan is able to make decisions for itself that mean that Tokyo does not have to be bombed with a nuclear device. The movie perhaps represents a growing sense in Japan that Japan can of course be trusted to find its own path and do what is right. History doesn’t always have to repeat itself and Japan does not have to live with the solutions dictated to it like it did immediately after World War Two. Japan can find peace and do that its own way.

Japan’s Self Defence Force ends up being on full display for audiences during the movie. Military commanders play a key role in what happens in the film as well as elected members of the government. In a way, the story represents a want for Japan to have a more functional government. Recently Japan has had a history of Prime Ministers resigning and even strong Prime Ministers like Shinzo Abe having broken elected terms with other leaders filling the gaps. The memory of a Prime Minister like Abe is still conflicted in Japan as his leadership was so important and yet his role was for some too influential. Shinzo Abe was shot at a politically rally and killed on the 8th of July 2022. Abe is still widely discussed in Japan.

Is Godzilla Japan’s Alter Ego?

In the recent Godzilla vs. Kong movie and other American-made Godzilla movies, we see Godzilla turn ultimately to be a character striving to do good. In the 2014 version of Godzilla, we see the characters discover that Godzilla is a monster fighter who hunts down creatures that threaten humanity. In the end Godzilla turns out to be the good guy. But compared with the Japanese Godzilla films, Godzilla is always seen as a monster and not an ally. In 1954, when Godzilla made his debut on the big screen, the movie showed a creature threatening a remote island. Godzilla comes off as a post-war remnant of something horrible left over from nuclear testing and war events in the Indo-Pacific region. Godzilla is no friend to Japan.

An alter ego is an alternative ego, a change in personality to an opposite. Sometimes it is considered a twin. Sometimes it comes out when you least expect it. Godzilla is said to have his origins from nuclear testing. The 1954 Godzilla clearly originated out of being disturbed by an underwater hydrogen bomb test. Scientists in the movie are curious to how Godzilla is resistant to radiation and whether this is linked to Godzilla’s mysterious origins. Japans suspicions of nuclear tests are made apparent with how the writer plays on nuclear testing near Japan as the origin of the monster.

Compared the Japanese Godzilla with the American-made 1997 Godzilla says something about how Japan and the United States see things. It is a little strange the Godzilla makes his way to New York City given that it is on the side furthest from the Pacific Ocean where nuclear tests are claimed to have made the creature. Bad geography on the part of the American writers. There is also a strong sense from the 1997 Godzilla that the creature is looking for somewhere to give birth. The Japanese Godzilla in contrast is attacking Japan for less obvious reasons. Godzilla is not looking for a home or a place to give birth in Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One. Godzilla is angry and that is really all that we know about him.

Godzilla’s origins after World War Two and his relationship to violence and destruction embody in a way what Japan was like during World War Two. A monster. A monster that is unwilling to relent. A monster that will destroy everything in its path. It is hard to have that image in ones mind now, as Japan is a very different place to how it was when it invaded its neighbours and bombed Pearl Harbour. Americans see Godzilla as aligned with their ego, and assume the power that Godzilla has comes with features that make him a moral monster. But for Japan, with its complicated history, a monster like Godzilla represents an adversary as he is like an alternative self that needs to be fought and needs to be destroyed. Japan’s recent films involving Godzilla do not have him turning out to be good. Japan has learned something from its past to mean Godzilla will always be foe.

What do you think? Leave a comment.