Kaiju (Japanese: æ€ªç £, Hepburn: kaijÅ«, lit. "strange beast") is a
Japanese genre of films featuring giant monsters. The term kaiju
(which comes from the Chinese text Classic of Mountains and Seas) can
refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted
attacking major cities and engaging the military, or other kaiju, in
battle. The kaiju genre is a subgenre of tokusatsu (特æ'®, "special
filming") entertainment.The 1954 film Godzilla is commonly regarded as
the first kaiju film. Kaiju characters are often somewhat metaphorical
in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves 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 characters include Rodan, Mothra, King
Ghidorah, and Gamera.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. After sakoku
had 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, in 1908 it was suggested that the extinct Ceratosaurus was
alive in Alaska, and this was referred to as kaijū. However, there
are no traditional depictions of kaiju or kaiju-like creatures in
Japanese folklore; but rather the origins of kaiju are found in
film.The first appearance within a film title of kaijū was in 1953
with Genshi KaijÅ« ga Arawareru (原å æ€ªç £ç ¾ã‚Œã‚‹), literally "An
Atomic Kaiju Appears", and the title in Japan of The Beast from 20,000
Fathoms. However, Gojira (transliterated as Godzilla) is commonly
regarded as the first kaiju film in the west and was released in 1954.
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 radioactive giant 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.
Japanese genre of films featuring giant monsters. The term kaiju
(which comes from the Chinese text Classic of Mountains and Seas) can
refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted
attacking major cities and engaging the military, or other kaiju, in
battle. The kaiju genre is a subgenre of tokusatsu (特æ'®, "special
filming") entertainment.The 1954 film Godzilla is commonly regarded as
the first kaiju film. Kaiju characters are often somewhat metaphorical
in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves 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 characters include Rodan, Mothra, King
Ghidorah, and Gamera.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. After sakoku
had 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, in 1908 it was suggested that the extinct Ceratosaurus was
alive in Alaska, and this was referred to as kaijū. However, there
are no traditional depictions of kaiju or kaiju-like creatures in
Japanese folklore; but rather the origins of kaiju are found in
film.The first appearance within a film title of kaijū was in 1953
with Genshi KaijÅ« ga Arawareru (原å æ€ªç £ç ¾ã‚Œã‚‹), literally "An
Atomic Kaiju Appears", and the title in Japan of The Beast from 20,000
Fathoms. However, Gojira (transliterated as Godzilla) is commonly
regarded as the first kaiju film in the west and was released in 1954.
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 radioactive giant 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.
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