July | 2017 | Kaijuvision Radio

The Lucky Dragon No. 5 today. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia).

Every Godzilla fan knows the story of the Lucky Dragon No. 5 (Daigo Fukuryu Maru). It was a fishing vessel that was exposed to nuclear fallout from the Castle Bravo test. While it was outside the predicted danger zone, the H-bomb detonated by the U.S. on the Bikini Atoll was far more powerful than expected, and on March 1, 1954, the 23-man crew of the ship were contaminated by the radiation. All of them suffered radiation poisoning and one died.

This event was fresh on the minds of the creative team at Toho working on Gojira. It’s why the film opens with a scene of a fishing vessel being destroyed by a blinding flash, which turns out later to have been Godzilla, and why it was implied that Godzilla was awakened and mutated by American H-bomb tests.

The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun was recently granted a rare chance to tour the inside of the now 70-year-old ship, which was decommissioned in 1967 and later moved in 1976 to the Yumenoshima district of Tokyo’s Koto Ward and preserved in a museum in the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall. They took several photos and 360-degree images of the boat. You can view them here.

To this day, the ship remains a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement in Japan. Along with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, this was one of the most potent and palpable examples of the “nuclear curse” on Japan. It was a demoralizing blow to the Japanese psyche, which was suffering other repercussions from nuclear tests at the time, such as contaminated fish being caught in their waters. It wasn’t until the 3/11 disasters, which included the Fukushima meltdown, that Japan suffered as large a nuclear-related incident. These led to an increase in distrust of nuclear power and the shutdown of many nuclear plants. This is problematic given that Japan is in desperate need of domestic energy sources since, being an island nation, they have to import most of them.

You might think it’s crazy, then, that anyone in Japan would want to preserve a ship that reminds them of this “curse.” I think the Japanese do it for that very reason. It allows them a means to look back on their past and remember their convictions. These events have made indelible marks on their history and culture, and they can’t afford to forget them.

By Brian Scherschel

Our first G-Fest has come and gone! We had a great experience. Thankfully, there were two of us so we were able to split up and cover the panels and other events during the three-day show.

First, during the “Mothra Mania” panel on Friday, we were surprised by a great performance by two cosplayers who sang “Mothra’s Song” as the Shobijin, Mothra’s twin fairies.

There were costumes and cosplayers in abundance during the convention.

We attended the costume contests, which featured some really impressive entries.

It was fun to see all of the films at the Pickwick Theatre. Watching the movies with a huge group of fans was different than watching them with a general audience. They would cheer and applaud at key moments like when a kaiju or favorite actor first appeared, or when Godzilla defeated his foe.

The Pickwick Theatre, built in 1928 in Park Ridge, Illinois

The films offered this year were “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963 International Version), “Dragon Wars: D-War” (2007), “Godzilla X Megaguirus” (2000), “Godzilla” (2014), “Kong: Skull Island” (2017), and “Shin Godzilla” (2016).

The Pickwick Theatre marquee

Because I’m a violinist who has great admiration for her work, I opted to meet the very talented composer Michiru Oshima, who wrote the music for “Godzilla X Megaguirus” (2000), “Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla” (2002), and “Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.” (2003).

Brian Scherschel (left)
Composer Michiru Oshima (right)

Nathan met headlining G-guest Shinji Higuchi, the co-director and special effects director for “Shin Godzilla” (2016).

Most noteworthy, Nathan was also asked to join “The Art of Kaiju Writing” panel about writing kaiju fiction.

We also both met Robert Scott Field, who played the android M-11 in the film “Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah” (1991). Since he lives in Osaka, he was able to give fans, including myself, information about what’s been happening lately in his adopted country at his “Japan Update” panel.

Here are pictures from some of the G-Guests we saw. It’s awesome that they traveled to the U.S. to visit with us and tell us about their Godzilla experiences.

Archie Waugh (left)
Assistant film director Kazuhiro Nakagawa (middle)
Actor and translator Robert Scott Field (right)

Actor and translator Robert Scott Field (left)
Suitmation actor, actor, and stunt performer Ryuki Kitaoka (middle)
Host of Kaijucast Kyle Yount (right)

It’s only been a few days since the convention, and Nate misses it already, while I’m getting caught up on rest.

Now my mind is buzzing with ideas about how to continue to make this podcast even better after all we learned and experienced last weekend.