Japanese creativity gave birth to a certain monster, shaped by the devastation that occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80 years ago.
That monster is Godzilla.

Godzilla was not created as a yokai or oni in the traditional sense, but as a massive symbol of destruction and despair.
It also carries a message: to never forget the terror of nuclear weapons, and to never start war again.

In 2024, the latest film Godzilla Minus One received the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in the United States.
To me, this award felt like not only a historic first for Japan’s film industry, but also proof that the universal sense of fear and reverence embodied by Godzilla was shared with the world.

Pollution, Discrimination... Social Issues Portrayed Through Tokusatsu

From around this time, more and more Japanese works began using the method of tokusatsu—special effects-driven live-action—to convey social issues such as anti-war messages, discrimination, and environmental problems in ways that were easy for the general public to understand.
In addition to the Godzilla series, franchises like Gamera, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider have sometimes tackled themes that people may want to turn away from.
For example, the monster Hedorah, born from human-caused environmental destruction, was inspired by the air and water pollution that Japan suffered as a side effect of its economic growth.
Another example is Kamen Rider Black Sun, a distinctive work that gained attention for depicting the issue of discrimination in a society striving for coexistence between humans and humanoid creatures.

Unlike animated works filled with stylized “cute” characters, tokusatsu uses realistic imagery to highlight the suffering of real people and the darker sides of society.