The Birth of Godzilla

5.26.2023

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (ゴジラVSたいキングギドラ, 1991) did more than just tell the origin story of Godzilla. The Heisei classic also changed it for better and for worst. Whenever a movie involves time travel inconsistencies in the story are inevitable. But despite its apparent challenges, this movie was a fun film and for me might be the height of that series. We get a look at Godzilla in 1944 when he was a dinosaur on Lagos Island during World War II before the postwar H-bomb tests at the Bikini Atoll conducted by the U.S. in 1954.

Humans from 2204, known as Futurians travel back to 1992 to warn Japan that Godzilla will ravage the nation in the future. They learn of the origin of Godzilla through an centuries old book, The Birth of Godzilla (ゴジラ誕生), written by the paranormal phenomena non-fiction writer Kenichiro Terasawa (寺沢健一郎, played by Kosuke Toyohara) who works for the the super mystery magazine MU. He hypothesizes that a dinosaur encountered by Japanese WWII veteran Masukichi Ikehata on Lagos Island became Godzilla after the Castle Bravo H-bomb test in 1954.¹ In their time machine, they return to the Lagos in 1944 to relocate Godzillasaurus to the Bering Sea to make sure it is not radiated by any future atomic blast. But later it will be irradiated by a Soviet nuclear submarine.²

Komei Kondo, the director’s assistant, was in charge of the production of this book. The art team created a block copy and ordered it from a printing company.³ Two versions of the book were created. On the cover is the iconic promotional still of the first Godzilla. The spine indicates that it is part of MU BOOKS series published by Gakken (学研). Super mystery non-fiction magazine “Mu” is a real magazine published by Gakken Kenkyusha.⁴ On the back cover has a photo of the Heisei Godzilla altered because Godzillasaurus was relocated. Below is its ISBN (4-7663-3117-6 C0100), the 1600 yen list price with the 1553 yen base price. To improve its realism and to assist the cast, the limited content was created for the inside pages and then repeated throughout the remaining pages. The text includes lines from the first Godzilla film and terms from popular anime.⁵

CAST (キャスト 特撮大百科最新情報, formerly known as Iwakura) make fantastic figurines that capture the most unique and desired moments in Godzilla movies. They are small, detailed and perfect for the display shelf. But they are limited, hard to come by and when found they are often more expensive than their original list price. CAST made two replica prop of the book: 1) Kenichiro Terasawa Birth of Godzilla (CASTゴジラ特撮大百科販促キャンペンオーナメント「映画ゴジラ対キングギドラ」より 寺沢健一郎 ゴジラ誕生<ミニチュア本>, 2014) and 2) A5 size “Birth of Godzilla” Free Notebook with 64 pages (A5判「ゴジラ誕生」フリーノート 64ページ, 2021). When I saw them in ads, I wanted both. After a long search, I found them both on Buyee Japan. Recently, I was able to score the notebook with the help of a Japanese friend. The notebook design is just like the prop book cover and back cover design. Unfortunately, it’s a soft back notebook with 64 blank pages inside. After finding the miniature book for the right price, it’s on the way.

I was building a solid collection of CAST figurines but stopped because I decided not to photograph them. But recently, I couldn’t resist, especially when the Godzilla Tower was reissued. CAST figurines are just great Godzilla collectibles that bring my favorite movie moments, props and characters to my collection.