Kaijū

is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' film genre by creating the '' Godzilla'' franchise and its spin-offs. The term can also refer to the monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other creatures.

'' Godzilla'' (1954) is often regarded as the first ''kaiju'' movie. When developing it, Honda and Tsuburaya drew inspiration from the character of King Kong, both in its influential 1933 film and in the conception of a giant monster, establishing it as a pivotal precursor in the evolution of the genre.King Kong’s influence on the giant monster genre:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* During their formative years, ''kaiju'' movies were generally neglected by Japanese critics, who regarded them as "juvenile gimmick", according to authors Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski.

''Kaiju'' are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, initially served as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the '' Lucky Dragon 5'' incident. Other notable examples of ''kaiju'' include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Gamera.

Origins

Etymology

The Japanese word ''kaijū'' originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends; it earlier appeared in the Chinese '' Classic of Mountains and Seas''. There are no traditional depictions of ''kaijū'' or ''kaijū''-like creatures among the '' yōkai'' of Japanese folklore, although it is possible to find megafauna in their mythology (e.g., Japanese dragons). After '' sakoku'' ended and Japan was opened to foreign relations in the mid-19th century, the term ''kaijū'' came to be used to express concepts from paleontology and legendary creatures from around the world. For example, the extinct '' Ceratosaurus''-like cryptid featured in '' The Monster of "Partridge Creek"'' (1908) by French writer Georges Dupuy was referred to as ''kaijū''. It is worthy to note that in the Meiji era, Jules Verne’s works were introduced to the Japanese public, achieving great success around 1890.

Film genre

Genre elements were present at the end of Winsor McCay's 1921 animated short '' The Pet'' in which a mysterious giant animal starts destroying the city, until it is countered by a massive airstrike. It was based on a 1905 episode of McCay's comic strip series '' Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend''.

The 1925 film '' The Lost World'' (adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel of the same name), featured many dinosaurs, including a brontosaurus that breaks loose in London and destroys Tower Bridge. The dinosaurs of '' The Lost World'' were animated by pioneering stop motion techniques by Willis H. O'Brien, who would some years later animate the giant gorilla-like creature breaking loose in New York City in the 1933 film '' King Kong''. The enormous success of ''King Kong'' can be seen as the definitive breakthrough of monster movies. This influential achievement of King Kong paved the way for the emergence of the giant monster genre, serving as a blueprint for future kaiju productions. Its success reverberated in the film industry, leaving a lasting impact and solidifying the figure of the giant monster as an essential component in genre cinematography. RKO Pictures later licensed the King Kong character to the Japanese studio Toho, resulting in the co-productions '' King Kong vs. Godzilla'' (1962) and '' King Kong Escapes'' (1967), both directed by Ishirō Honda.

Yoshirō Edamasa directed '' The Great Buddha Arrival'' in 1934. Although the original film is now lost, stills of the film have survived, and it is one of the earliest examples of a ''kaiju'' film in Japanese cinematic history. The 1934 film presumably influenced the production of the '' Ultraman'' franchise. Natalie, September 10, 2020
「大仏廻国」はウルトラマンの原点と古谷敏が語る、マッハ文朱も来場して変身ポーズ
/ref>

Ray Bradbury's short story published in the Saturday Evening Post, June 23, 1951 " The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" served as the basis for the film '' The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'' (1953), featuring a fictional dinosaur (animated by Ray Harryhausen), which is released from its frozen, hibernating state by an atomic bomb test within the Arctic Circle. The American movie was released in Japan in 1954 under the title ''The Atomic Kaiju Appears'', marking the first use of the genre's name in a film title. However, '' Godzilla'', released in 1954, is commonly regarded as the first Japanese ''kaiju'' film. Tomoyuki Tanaka, a producer for Toho Studios in Tokyo, needed a film to release after his previous project was halted. Seeing how well the Hollywood giant monster movie genre films ''King Kong'' and ''The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'' had done in Japanese box offices, and himself a fan of these films, he set out to make a new movie based on them and created ''Godzilla''. Tanaka aimed to combine Hollywood giant monster movies with the re-emerged Japanese fears of atomic weapons that arose from the Daigo Fukuryū Maru fishing boat incident; and so he put a team together and created the concept of a giant radioactive creature emerging from the depths of the ocean, a creature that would become the monster Godzilla. ''Godzilla'' initially had commercial success in Japan, inspiring other ''kaiju'' movies.

Kingkongposter.jpg, '' King Kong'' (1933) was a major influence on the Japanese ''kaiju'' genre.
The giant escapes.jpg, '' The Arctic Giant'' (1942) is one of pioneering productions to depict Godzilla-esque characters to attack a modern civilization.
Гамера 1965.jpg, The ''Gamera'' franchise played a significant role in forming kaiju genre along with the ''Godzilla'' franchise.
Bouddha Edamasa 1934.jpg, '' The Great Buddha Arrival'' (1934), which potentially inspired '' Ultraman'', was one of the earliest kaiju films in Japan along with '' Wasei Kingu Kongu'' (1933) and '' The King Kong That Appeared in Edo'' (1938).

Terminology

The term ''kaijū'' translates literally as "strange beast". ''Kaiju'' can be antagonist

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases