The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations, for their continued warning of the dangers of nuclear war.
However, as the Nobel committee pointed out, “the fates of those who survived the infernos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were long concealed and neglected.” Nihon Hidankyo, established in 1956, aimed to fight against this erasure.
Around that same period, another warning came from Japan—a towering monster who topples Tokyo with blasts of irradiated breath. The 1954 film Godzilla launched a franchise that has been warning viewers to take better care of the Earth for the past 70 years.
These films convey a pressing message about humanity’s responsibility to the planet. While few survivors remain to recount the horrors of nuclear warfare, Godzilla persists as a symbol of these warnings.
Japan’s connection to nuclear devastation didn’t end with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
By 1954, U.S. nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll also impacted Japanese people. The Lucky Dragon No. 5, a fishing boat outside the restricted zone, was showered with irradiated ash after the hydrogen bomb test, leading to illness among the crew and the death of one fisherman. This tragedy is mirrored in the opening scenes of Godzilla.
The original film, filled with societal debates and cutting-edge effects, was drastically altered for foreign audiences. The 1956 American version, Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, cut key scenes, added footage featuring Raymond Burr, and reworked the narrative into an action-driven plot.
Until the Japanese version was released internationally in 2004, this Americanized version was all that most outside Japan knew of Godzilla.
As the franchise grew, so did Godzilla’s role. By the 1971 film Godzilla vs. Hedorah, the creature’s focus shifted from nuclear warfare to pollution. Director Yoshimitsu Banno, inspired by his work on a documentary about natural disasters, used the film to highlight the environmental destruction caused by pollution. In the movie, Godzilla battles Hedorah, a creature feeding on toxic waste, in a grim allegory of environmental apocalypse.
Despite the film’s initial failure, Godzilla vs. Hedorah gained a cult following, and its message of environmentalism remains relevant today. Both the Japanese and U.S. franchises reflect this, with the latter blending Godzilla’s environmental themes with blockbuster spectacle.
In 2016, after the Fukushima disaster, Shin Godzilla rebooted the series, drawing eerie parallels between the government’s response to Godzilla and the mishandling of the Fukushima crisis. This reboot underscores a crucial message: while governments play a role in addressing disasters, empowered individuals are equally essential to recovery.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
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