Godzilla vs Hedorah Place

9.4.2021

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Time for another trip to a famous Godzilla Place. This time let’s explore a location from Godzilla vs Hedorah. In this 1970s classic, Godzilla battles a different kind of foe, Hedorah, an alien life-form that feeds off of human pollution. Hedorah’s name is from the Japanese へどろ (hedoro) translated “slug.” Hedorah has an insatiable appetite for slug and smog. Television news reports the destruction of oil tanker by what appears to be a large strange sea creature. To learn more about this mysterious monster and its origins, the movies protagonists Dr. Toru Yano along with his son Ken, go down to the bay, where during his injurious scuba dive the doctor encounters the monster.

This sea scene and location are unforgettable but its location had been unknown to me until now. But thanks to twitter account ロケ地大画報 (@yartsensei) who tweeted its location recently. Father and son head down to Arasaki Bentenjima (荒崎弁天島) located in Yokosuka, Japan. I traveled to Yokosuka during my last trip to Japan. The scene is part of Arasaki Park (荒崎公園), “a coastal park with hiking trails on a rocky headland & views of Mount Fuji across Sagami Bay” (6 Chome-5320-3 Nagai, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 238-0316, Japan).

Take a closer look and compare the movie scene with the bay. The rock formations appear to be the same. There are sets of steps near the large rock formation that may correspond to what appears to be a set of steps that can be seen behind Ken.

Finding Godzilla movie locations is fun. In the process, we can learn more about Japanese history and culture as well as Godzilla. This location is on my list of Godzilla places to visit during my next trip to Japan.