Conquer the locations of the original Godzilla

初代ゴジラのロケ地を征く

Conquer the locations of the original Godzilla

東京三重群馬

Tokyo Mie Prefecture

——— 昭和29年の夏から秋、日本初の本格特撮怪獣映画『ゴジラ』のスタッフが、大規模ロケーションで日本を駆け抜けた、初ゴジの聖地を明らかにする!

——— From the summer to the fall of 1954, the staff of Japan’s first full-fledged special effects monster movie “Godzilla” ran through Japan in large-scale locations, revealing the sacred place of the first Godzilla!

構成・文◎友井健人
Composition and text ◎ Kento Tomoi

石鏡 (三重県鳥羽市)
Ijika (Toba City, Mie Prefecture)

ゴジラの伝説が息づく神秘の島大戸島は、本多猪四郎監督が劇映画デビュー作『青い真珠』(1951年)でも訪れた風光明媚な石鏡で撮影された。

The mystical island of Odo, where the legend of Godzilla lives, was filmed in the scenic Ijika that director Ishiro Honda visited in his feature film debut, The Blue Pearl (1951).

一連の船舶沈没事故の生き証人である大戸島の漁師、山田政治が筏で流れついた浜。リアス式海岸独特の張り出した崖のシルエットは今も変わらない。大戸島のファーストカットだ。

The beach where Seiji Yamada, a fisherman from Odo Island who is a living witness to a series of shipwrecks, washed ashore on a raft. The silhouette of the overhanging cliffs that are unique to rias coasts has not changed. This is the first cut of Odo Island.

『ゴジラ』ロケのスナップ。上のアングルから右へぐるりと視点を移すと、この風景となる。当時の石鏡は、鳥羽港から船で約1時間の「陸の孤島」。ロケ隊も船に揺られて浜を訪れた。陸路が発達した現在も、この浜へ降りる道は見つけにくい。

Snap of “Godzilla” location. If you shift your viewpoint from the upper angle to the right, you will see this landscape. At that time, Ijika was a solitary island about one hour by boat from Toba Port. The location team also visited the beach on a ship. Even now, with land routes developed, it is still difficult to find a way down to this beach.

ここも聖地だ
This is also a sacred place

『ゴジラ』石鏡ロケは8月初旬。現場スチールに写ったスタッフの多くが日除けに被る麦藁帽子に「長門館」の文字がある。長門館は鳥羽港近くに現在もある。創業者一族四代目の吉田さんは語る。「現在うちは食堂ですが、当時は旅館をやってまして、明治40年の創業になります。当時麦藁帽子なんか貸していたかわかりませんが、『ゴジラ』のスタッフはうちに泊まっていらっしゃいましたよ。最初に泊まったのは『青い真珠』だと思います。監督さんのことは覚えていないですが、東宝の方はよく泊まっていらっしゃいました。『潮騒』のとき私は高校生で、玄関で青山京子さんにお会いして驚きましたよ。当時石鏡は船でないといけないような場所で、「陸の孤島」と言われてましてね。その分電信柱なんかはなかったんで、撮影には良かったんでしょうけど」『ゴジラ』には石鏡の住民の4分の1に当る300人がエキストラ出演した。「石鏡第一ホテル神倶良(かぐら)」会長の木村良三氏もその一人。当時中学1年生で、竹槍を手に山道を走ったという。足跡の浜はこのホテルの屋上から、右の写真のように見下ろせる。館内には『ゴジラ」と石鏡にまつわるパネルがある。

“Godzilla” Ijika location in early August. The straw hats worn by many of the staff members in the still images of the site have the characters “Nagatokan” on them. Nagatokan still stands near Toba Port. Mr. Yoshida, the fourth generation of the founding family, says: “Currently, we are a restaurant, but at the time we were running an inn, and it was founded in 1907. I don’t know if we were lending straw hats back then, but the staff of ‘Godzilla’ stayed at our house. I think the first time they stayed was “Blue Pearl.” I don’t remember the director, but Toho often stayed. When I was in “The Sound of Waves,” I was a high school student, and at the entrance I was surprised when I met Ms. Kyoko Aoyama. At that time, Ijika was a place that had to be reached by ship, and was said to be an “isolated island on land.” There were no telegraph poles, so it was good for filming.” In “Godzilla,” 300 people, one-fourth of the residents of Ijika, appeared as extras. Mr. Ryozo Kimura, the chairman of “Ijika Daiichi Hotel Kagura” is one of them. He was in the first year of junior high school at the time, and it is said that he ran a mountain road with a bamboo spear in his hand. Footprints can be seen from the rooftop of this hotel, as shown in the photo on the right. Inside the museum, there are panels related to “Godzilla” and Ijika.

「ありゃなんだい?」「足跡だ!」。ゴジラが巨大な足跡を残したのは上の撮影が行われたのと同じ浜。石鏡の地形は起伏が豊かで、高台から見下ろすとこうなる。実際には一面に石がゴロゴロした浜で、ゴジラといえど足跡を残すのは困難だ。よく見ると劇中で子供たちが海に石を盛んに投じている。

“What is it?” “Footprints!” Godzilla left huge footprints on the same beach where the above photo was taken. The topography of Ijika is rich in undulations, and this is what it looks like when you look down from a hill. In reality, the beach is covered with rocks, so it is difficult for even Godzilla to leave footprints. If you look closely, you can see children throwing stones into the sea in the movie.

Source: 初代ゴジラ研究読本, p 45