Why Godzilla just got his Japanese passport
If you can鈥檛 eat 鈥榚m, join 鈥榚m. , Japan鈥檚 very own city-stomping monster and anti-nuclear symbol, has accepted both citizenship and a job as an official for Tokyo's Shinjuku ward in Japan this week.
senior Northeast Asia associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center's Asia Program, says in an interview that there鈥檚 a great deal of cultural significance to having this particular non-verbal, building-smashing mutation as a front-monster.
While Americans may view Godzilla as entertainment, Ms. Goto says 鈥渢he Japanese have a much deeper, broader cultural bond鈥� to the creature that has been both the terror and savior of Tokyo.
鈥淗e鈥檚 not just out to destroy,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 out to save the day and he has feelings too, even if he can鈥檛 verbalize them. He鈥檚 that lovable bad guy. There are lots of casualties, but at the end of the day you root for these unlikely protagonists.鈥�
Goto adds, 鈥淕odzilla symbolizes the good old days of Japan on the upswing. It was a time when there seemed no limits to what the Japanese could achieve.聽Godzilla鈥檚 appeal today goes across generations, from the original versions, to Hollywood reinterpretation to animation.鈥�
鈥淚t puts Japan on the map in a very positive way and there are a number of [reasons] why this is really powerful. He actually symbolizes Japan鈥檚 opposition to nuclear power and nuclear testing,鈥� she adds.
Ms. Goto points out that 鈥淛apan has been a victim of not one, but two nuclear bombs.鈥�
On , during World War II the world鈥檚 first deployed atomic bomb was dropped over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city killing 80,000 people. Radiation exposure killed tens of thousands more in the ensuing months. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people.
鈥淪o they [the Japanese] have an insight into the horrors, and one of the horrors is it can wreak havoc on nature,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd behold! Here we have Godzilla, the result of nuclear testing. And of course, he鈥檚 angry, really angry.鈥�
Godzilla鈥檚 citizenship states: 鈥淩eason for special residency: Promoting the entertainment of and watching over the Kabuki-cho neighborhood and drawing visitors from around the globe in the form of the Godzilla head built atop the Shinjuku 叠耻颈濒诲颈苍驳.鈥�
His birthdate is listed as the date of his first film鈥檚 premi猫r, April 9, 1954. Previous visits to Shinjuku Ward include: "Godzilla" (1984), "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" (1991), "Godzilla 2000 Millennium" (1999).
鈥淚 think people always just assumed he had citizenship, but now it鈥檚 official,鈥� Goto says.
Paul Jaffe, New York representative for , says in an interview that now, more than four years after the March 2011 triple meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.鈥檚 Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, the debate over nuclear power has become so divisive that some may question this move.聽
鈥淥n one level It may be a symbolic representation of nuclear power as friendly rather than scary. Others, more disturbed by the damage done to property, communities, health, and life by the Fukushima disaster may see this as cynical,鈥� Jaffe says. 鈥淣ow you have Godzilla, who is of nuclear origin being befriended. It makes it a more interesting issue given that backdrop.鈥�
However, Jaffe鈥檚 positive take on Godzilla鈥檚 new role is that the monster is a national symbol of innovation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the first things from Japan that became a worldwide phenom. It was followed by many things but for the movie industry it was a kind of groundbreaking ancestor of Japan culture becomes world culture,鈥� Jaffe says.
Film and animation are subtle ways of exporting Japanese culture to the world. According to Monocle magazine, Japan is the in the world when it comes to so-called 'soft power.'
Goto adds that, 鈥淛apan has always leveraged animation as part of its soft power approach to diplomacy. is a former tour ambassador.聽 [Gadget Cat from the Future] is another popular cartoon that exports Japanese culture to see how kids eat, where they live, and you can say that about Godzilla too in the earlier films shot in Japan.鈥�
Overall, Godzilla represents nature鈥檚 way of striking back when mankind violates nature.
Says Goto, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a word of caution of man becoming too arrogant and believing too much in the power of science.鈥�
