Presenting an Innocent Nation: Critique of Gojira (1954)'s Reflections on Japan's WWII Responsibility

Abstract

The Japanese film Gojira (known as Godzilla to Western audiences) is a kaiju or monster movie, and the first installment in the Gojira series. Gojira films are allegorical, and typically comment on the contemporary political and moral issues of their time. Released soon after Japan's defeat in WWII, Gojira offers timely insights into Japan's reluctance to admit wrongdoing in initiating and entering the Second World War. Created shortly after the U.S. Occupation Period (1945-1952), Gojira (1954) sheds light on who is to blame and who is not to blame when dealing with Japan’s war responsibility. Gojira attributes blame to the pro-American Japanese government officials and the American nuclear-bomb program while presenting an innocent Japan through the film’s focus on common Japanese people who are victimized by both nuclear bombs and the invasion of the monster Gojira. This contrast in representation presents ways of remembering and ways of forgetting, thus depicting an imagined history that allows Japan to escape from confronting its war responsibility.