The business of Godzilla-related publishing

ゴジラ関連出版という業
The business of Godzilla-related publishing

ゴジラ書籍の歴史は、恐ろしく深い。原作者・香山滋による小説『怪獣ゴジラ』(54年)、初期デザインを手がけた漫画家・阿部和助の「科学冒険絵ものがたりゴジラ』(54年)など、特筆すべき作品は初公開時からあるが、注目したいのは怪獣ブームのさなか、無垢な子供たちを怪獣マニアの無間地獄へと引きずり込んだ怪獣本だ。

The history of Godzilla books is surprisingly deep. Notable works such as the novel “The Monster Godzilla” (1954) by the original author, Shigeru Kayama, and “Science Adventure Picture Story Godzilla” (1954) by manga artist Wassuke Abe, who worked on the initial design, have been released since the first release. However, what I would like to pay attention to is monster books that drag innocent children into the endless hell of monster mania in the midst of the monster boom.

まず、秋田書店刊の怪獣図鑑『怪獣画報』(66年)、朝日ソノラマ刊の『怪獣大図鑑』(66年)、ノーベル書房刊『怪獣大全集1円谷怪獣のひみつ」(67年)あたりが図鑑系マニア本の源流だろう。

First, Akita Shoten’s Monster Pictorial Book “Kaiju Pictorial” (1966), Asahi Sonorama’s “Monster Encyclopedia” (1966), Nobel Shobo “The Complete Collection of Monsters 1 Tsuburaya Monster’s Secret” (1967) are the source of encyclopedia mania books.

そんな図鑑系にハマった子供たちが大人になり思わず飛びついたのが、78年の朝日ソノラマ刊のファンタスティックコレクション『特撮映像の巨星ゴジラ』。キワモノ扱いだったゴジラが、豊富な資料や評論をもとに、「日本映画」として語られるというのは、怪獣が忘れられずに育ってしまった日陰者の特撮ファンにはまさに福音であった。この流れはムック『素晴らしき特撮映像の世界』(79年)、翌年の専門誌「宇宙船」創刊につながり、多くの読者を不治のゴジラ熱、りかん特撮熱に罹患させていく。冒頭でゴジラ書籍の歴史はーと書いたが、それは間違い。恐ろしく深いのは「業」のほうだった。

Children who were addicted to such encyclopedias became adults and jumped at the fantastic collection “Godzilla, the giant of special effects video” published by Asahi Sonorama in 1978. The fact that Godzilla, which had been treated as a ghastly monster, is being talked about as a “Japanese movie” based on a wealth of materials and criticism, was truly good news for shady tokusatsu fans who had grown up without ever forgetting monsters. This trend led to the publication of Mook’s “The World of Wonderful Tokusatsu Eiga” (1979) and the launch of the specialized magazine “Uchusen” the following year, infecting many readers with incurable Godzilla fever and Rikan Tokusatsu fever. At the beginning, I wrote about the history of Godzilla books, but that is a mistake. What is surprisingly deep is the “karma​.”¹

1 Thank you so much Makuta-san for providing the correction and clarification of the meaning of the word「業」which I had incorrectly translated as “work.”

(文/幕田けいた)
(Composition / Keita Makuta)

Source: ゴジラ売全解読, p 144