[COPY] Stomping around Tokyo

Godzilla walk, 1954

Kachidoki Bridge, near the mouth of the Sumida River, is the last Tokyo landmark to be destroyed by Godzilla in the 1954 film. In the top right corner, you can see the tip of the Tokyo Tower, often victimized by the Big G but not in the original film.

Dear readers, as promised, here’s a new “enhanced” version of the Godzilla walk featuring a link to a Google map to give you a better idea of Godzilla’s progress throughout Tokyo.

The text is exactly the same.

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Francois Truffaut’s haunting film The Woman Next Door ends with the narrator proposing an epitaph for the two doomed lovers: “Neither with you nor without you.” These words suit Godzilla’s tumultuous love affair with Tokyo to a T. Indeed, the undisputed king of Japanese kaiju (monsters) seems irresistibly attracted to Japan’s capital, only to smash it to pieces every time they are reunited.

Godzilla – and monster movies in general – also has a penchant for targeting the latest additions to the Tokyo cityscape: in 1961, for instance, Mothra’s giant larva bends and snaps the three-year-old Tokyo Tower in two before using it to build a cocoon in its ruins and turn into a fully formed vengeful moth. Also, the Yurakucho Mullion commercial complex opened in September 1984 only to be seriously damaged in The Return of Godzilla that was released just three months later.

Although each fan has his own favorite kaiju film, everybody agrees that the original Godzilla (1954) is one of the best. Therefore, this time I am guiding you on a tour of Tokyo landmarks that got the rough treatment when Big G first tramped around Japan’s capital.

Here’s the walk map: