The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has been decided Awarded by Japan Hidankyo, Japan Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Victims Association. Many of these witnesses had spent their lives warning of the dangers of nuclear war, but initially much of the world did not want to hear them.
“The fate of those who survived the hells of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” hidden and ignored for a long time” the Nobel committee said in a statement. Local organizations of nuclear victims founded Nippon Hidankyo in 1956 to fight back against this erasure.
Atomic bomb survivor Masao Ito (82) speaks in a park across from the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima on May 15, 2023. Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images
Around the same time that Nippon Hidankyo was established, Japan issued another warning. It was a towering monster that turned Tokyo upside down with a blast of radioactive breath. The 1954 film “godzilla” series, Warn viewers to take better care of the earth For the past 70 years.
we study Japanese popular media and Business ethics and sustainabilityBut then we discovered a common interest in Godzilla. 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and meltdown At the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. In our view, these films convey important messages about our planet. Creeping environmental catastrophe. There are few survivors left who can warn humanity about the effects of nuclear weapons, but Godzilla remains eternal.
Towards the nuclear age
By 1954, Japan had survived nearly a decade of nuclear exposure. In addition to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese suffered from a series of U.S. military attacks. nuclear test in bikini atoll.
When the United States conducted the world’s first hydrogen bomb test in 1954, the damage was devastating. far outside the expected range of damage. Although it was far from the restricted area, Fukuryu No. 5 Japanese fishing boat The crew was then bathed in irradiated ash. All of them became ill, and one fisherman died within the year. The development of their tragedy was widely covered in the Japanese media.
The Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test on March 1, 1954 produced an explosion equivalent to 15 megatons of TNT, more than two and a half times more than scientists expected. Large amounts of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere.
This event will be echoed within the scene At the beginning of “Godzilla””, a helpless Japanese ship is destroyed by an invisible force.
“Godzilla” is filled with deep social discussion, complex characters, and cutting-edge special effects for its time. Most of the movie features characters discuss our responsibilities– To each other, to society, and to the environment.
This seriousness is like the movie itselfwas effectively buried outside of Japan with his 1956 “bundle self.”Godzilla, King of Monsters!American licensors dismantled the 1954 film, removed slow scenes, shot new footage featuring Canadian actor Raymond Burr, stitched it all together, and used an action-oriented script they had written. The work was dubbed in English.
Until the release of the Japanese film, this version was known as “Godzilla” to people outside of Japan. 50th anniversary of overseas release anniversary In 2004.
From radiation to pollution
“King of the Monsters!” “Godzilla” has traveled the world and spawned dozens of sequels and spin-offs, even in Japan. In Japanese films, Godzilla slowly transformed from a brutal monster to one that protects humanity, and this change was reflected in subsequent American films.
In 1971, a new, young creative team sought to define a new era of Godzilla:godzilla vs hedorah” Director Yoshimitsu Banno joined the film’s staff while promoting his just-completed documentary about natural disasters. That experience gave him the opportunity to change Godzilla’s direction from nuclear issues to environmental pollution.
World War II was fading from public memory. So was it Large-scale security protests mobilized in 1959 and 1960 Up to one-third of Japanese people oppose the update of Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. Among the participants was a housewife who was worried after hearing the news that fish caught on the Dai-5 Fukuryu Maru were being sold at Japanese grocery stores.
at the same time, pollution was on the rise. In 1969, Michiko Ishimure wrote “Paradise in the Sea of Sadness ~Our Minamata Disease~This is a book that is often viewed as “. Japanese version of “Silent Spring”‘, Rachel Carson’s environmental classic. Mr. Ishimure poetic description of life ruined Chisso Corporation’s dumping of methylmercury into the Shiranui Sea has awakened many people in Japan to the government’s numerous failures to protect its people from industrial pollution.
Chisso Corporation released toxic methylmercury into Minamata Bay between 1932 and 1968, poisoning tens of thousands of people who ate local seafood.
“Godzilla vs. Hedorah” depicts Godzilla’s battle with Hedorah, a crash-landed alien that grows to gigantic size by feeding on toxic sludge and other forms of pollutants. The film opens with a woman singing a jazz-like song about the apocalypse of the environment as young people dance freely in an underground club.
This combination of desperation and hedonism continues throughout the uneven film, which includes everything from close-up shots of a kitten covered in an oil slick to animated sequences of Godzilla awkwardly floating on irradiated breath.
After Godzilla defeats Hedorah at the end of the movie, Godzilla pulls a handful of poisonous sludge from Hedorah’s torso, stares at the sludge, and then turns to look at the human audience, the on-screen audience and the movie audience. Look at both. The message is clear. Get in shape and do something instead of just lazily singing about your impending doom.
“Godzilla vs. Hedorah” Japanese version official trailer
“Godzilla vs. Hedorah” was a huge hit at the box office, but over time it became a cult hit. Godzilla’s place between the Earth and those who harm it is still reflected today in two separate Godzilla series.
One line of the movie is original Japanese studio That’s how “Godzilla” was born. The other line is US licensor make eco masterpiece A work that combines the environmentalism of “Godzilla” with the spectacle of “King of the Monsters.”
Collapse of social trust
The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster is now part of the common memory of the Japanese people. Cleanup and decommissioning As controversy continues over the ongoing damage to the stricken nuclear power plant. radioactive water release Used for cooling plants. Although some residents are allowed to visit their homes, thousands of workers are not allowed to return. Remove topsoil, branches, and other materials This is to decontaminate these areas.
Japan before Fukushima obtained one third of electricity From nuclear power. After the disaster, public attitudes toward nuclear energy hardened, especially after investigations found that regulators had acted fraudulently. On-site risks are underestimated. Japan must import approximately 90% of the energy it uses, which is currently consumed by more than 70% of the population. oppose nuclear power.
Godzilla, the first Japanese movie released after the Fukushima nuclear disasterShin Godzilla(2016) rebooted the series with a new Godzilla set in modern Japan, eerily reflecting the devastation and government response to the Fukushima triple disaster. After the first counterattack against Godzilla, when the Japanese government was leaderless and in turmoil, Japanese government officials teamed up with American envoys to create a new, named Godzilla before the world could once again launch a nuclear weapon. Freezes Godzilla from its path.
Their success suggests that while governments have an important role to play in large-scale disasters, successful recovery requires: people who are empowered Act as an individual.
Amanda Kennel is an assistant professor of East Asian languages and cultures at the University of Notre Dame. Jessica McManus Warnell is a professor of management and organizations at the University of Notre Dame.. This article is republished from conversation under Creative Commons License. please read original article.
