Memories never to forget

3.11.2022

Today marks 11 years since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 (three days after my birthday), referred to as 3/11. Unfortunately, the more things change, the more things stay the same. Today, the world faces yet another nuclear threat from the Russian military which has taken hostage the crippled nuclear plant at Chernobyl and Europe’s largest nuclear facility Zaporizhzhia as part of its war and invasion of Ukraine. Reports state plant operators are working under gun point. Today the memories and lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Chernobyl and Fukushima are center stage.

Technological advancement promises progress but eventual technology is at the service of the greed and theft. Such a scenario plays out in Godzilla vs Biollante (1989). In the aftermath of Godzilla’s destructive March through Shinjuku, nations race to recover Godzilla cells from the city to harness Godzilla’s advanced biology for future exploits. One disaster leads to another.

Short-term profits and shortsighted rewards outweigh long-term harm and abuse. We cannot contain the disasters we cause like we cannot curtail our greed that created them. We cut corners to cut costs and cut off our nose despite our face. We’ve become comfortable with slowly destroying ourselves as easily as we have the earth. We’ve conditioned ourselves to accept what were once unacceptable conditions and consequences. Our dilemmas are brought to us by a long chain of poor decisions.

Several weeks ago, I watched 3/11 footage that I hadn’t seen. The memories of that day are haunting and inescapable. Each year I inevitably come across pictures from those days while I was living in Japan. NHK reports, “Passing on lessons from the 2011 disaster is a major challenge for Japan, which continues to face the risk of large earthquakes.” I can’t forget 3/11. The experiences and lessons from that day must be passed on and learned. A better future depends upon it.

In Shin (New) Godzilla (2016), Directors Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi return to the monster to its origins in “Gojira,” the monster made by the Hydrogen bomb, to do what it does best, represent their nation’s latest nuclear existential crisis. Shin Godzilla is the most important and consequential film in the series since the original.

Today, I’m unable to watch Shin Godzilla as frequently as I did since its release. Watching the film and listening to its stirring soundtrack have been cathartic, helping me to examine and exorcise my pent-up memories, fears and anxiety. Shin Godzilla is deeply personal. My recent detachment from the film feels like my attempt to escape the disaster all over again. It is too real. To watch is to relive that day. I can’t dissociate reality from fiction and fiction from reality. Godzilla has been and will continue to remind us of the dangers we as humans experience together and the harm we do to each other.

Additional Reading
Japan marks 11th anniversary of 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster
Japan marks 11 years since quake disaster, Fukushima crisis