“When my associates moved to Japan in 1999, they came back amazed by its culture. Decision was then taken to spread all its wealth. Building on this ambition, in June 2000, we organized the first edition of Japan Expo. It attracted 3000 visitors,” recalls Thomas Sirdey, the co-founder, along with Sandrine and Jean-François Dufour, of the Great Mass of Lovers of Japanese Culture, which is celebrating its 20th edition until 7 July.

Twenty years later, the third trade show behind those of agriculture and the world of cars, in terms of daily attendance, accumulates a round of staggering figures. More than 243,000 visitors in 2018, 16 concert stages, several hundred guests, 146,000 square meters of spaces dedicated to four days of festivities. The Japan Expo reigns supreme over the influence of Japanese culture in France and Europe.

The little festival has grown up well. The great raout of lovers of Japanese culture blows out its 20 candles, from July 4 to 7, in Villepinte. The perfect opportunity to grow up again with a festive and eclectic program. Follow …

Monster Zero
Released: July 29, 1970 by UPA/Saperstein Productions
Running time: 93 minutes

The Japanese Pop Culture in America is formally available as Godzilla vs. Monster Zero from Simitar Home Video.

History Vortex and Monster Zero marks the first time that Toho united their already popular themes of outer space invasions (The Mysterians 1957, Battle in Outer Space, 1959) with giant monster wars (King Kong vs. Godzilla, Godzilla vs. the Thing, Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster) into one movie. The result was another popular entry in the Godzilla series. The formula of alien invasion would be employed again in Destroy All Monsters, and over-used from Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) to Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975). Some Godzilla movie fans also started playing the popular Godzilla themed-slots at online casinos. When playing players have the ultimate online entertainment they have a feeling like they are in the middle of a fighting scene. When it comes to other casino games, we all know that gambling has been around for centuries and that poker, blackjack, and roulette are the oldest casino games in the …

(Originally published in G-FAN Issue #10 July/August 1994)
Revised edition published in KAIJU-FAN # 5 Summer 1997

Gojira
Released on November 3, 1954
Running time: 98 minutes

Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
Released on September 17, 1956 by Transworld Pictures
Running time: 80 minutes
Available on Classic Media Video

Considered by many to be the greatest film ever produced in Japan, second only to Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai (1954), Gojira changed the Japanese movie industry forever. Gojira saw the formation of a legendy creative team. Tomoyuki Tanaka, the producer who thought of the concept, Ishiro Honda, the director, Akira Ifukube, the musical composer, and Eji Tsuybura, who made fantasy come to life. For the next 15 years, these four men who would be responsible for many fantastic movies that have gained a fan following, and are considered to be classics.

In 1955, Gojira played at the Toho LaBrea Theater in Los Angeles. American rights to the film were later obtained from Toho’s Tokyo office by Joseph E. Levine of Transworld Pictures, much to the chagrin of Alex Gordon and …

1. THE EYE STICK – This incorporates a wide-angle lens that transmits images to a screen within the control chamber. It is mounted on a pivoting arm that protrudes from the Dalek’s head section. The head is capable of turning a full 360 degrees providing the Dal mutant with complete all-round vision. The eye is capable of using different types of visual perception, including night and heat vision.
2. INSULATORS – These discs, behind the eye lens, protect the delicate ‘eye nerve’ mechanism from the harmful effects of cosmic rays. These are essential when the Dalek is in space flight.
3. ENERGY DISPENSERS – Housed in the head section, these dissipate any excess energy, which often builds up in Dalek cells. Acting like safety valves, they release the energy in the form of red heat and supersonic squeals, beyond the range of human hearing.
4. TRANSLATOR UNIT – Daleks have no vocal cords so this unit amplifies the Dal mutant’s thoughts into speech patterns acceptable to the listener’s brain. This process is reversed when the Dalek is spoken to.
5. SUPER-SENSITIVE STATIC RECORDING SCREENS – All light and static electrical waves are picked up by these photo-sonic …

Warrior Daleks:

The Warrior/Worker Dalek is the most common type, and all Daleks follow the same basic design from this. During the 1960s their outer casing were silver, changing over to various shades of gray beginning in the 1970s. The exterior of the early Dalek casing was made from a specially developed alloy, Dalekenium, which is both very light and very tough. Later Dalek casings were constructed out of Polly-Carbine armor, making the travel machine virtually indestructible.

The internal anatomy of the Dalek has changed little over time, conforming to the changes to the physical form of the Dal/Kaled mutant. Each travel machine contains a control chamber, located in the center top of the machine, which houses the mutant. Above the control chamber a large proportion of the upper Dalek is devoted to the “war computer,” from which the mutant draws its military knowledge. The Dalek’s external base is covered by “sensor globes” which send messages concerning external atmospheric conditions, location of enemy units, etc., to the war computer. It probably makes for a great blog host as well. Throughout the 60s these globes were …

Koichi Kawakita directed the special effects for GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE (1989), GODZILLA VS. GHIDRAH (1991), GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1992), GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA (1993), GODZILLA VS. SPACE GODZILLA (1994), and a number of other science fiction films. He also directed the special effects for SAMURAI OF THE BIG SKY (1976) and ZERO (1984), both of which are war movies.

Conducted in December 1994

David Milner: Why wasn’t GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE produced sooner than it was?

Koichi Kawakita: Shortly after TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975) was released, a large number of Godzilla fans began urging Toho to produce another Godzilla film. (The Toho Company Ltd. produced all twenty-one of the Godzilla films. It also produced RODAN (1956), MOTHRA (1961) and many other science fiction movies.) That is what eventually prompted the release of GODZILLA 1985 (1984). It was not as successful as Toho had anticipated it would be, so the studio decided to pit Godzilla against another monster in the next Godzilla movie. (Godzilla is the only monster in GODZILLA 1985.)

A story contest was held to obtain ideas for what …

The Flatiron Building (1903)
175 Fifth Avenue at East 23rd Street
New York City

The Skyscraper, modern American cities are defined by them. Their towering spires and intricate shapes, the word itself brings to mind the steel and glass towers which climb thousands of feet into the sky. While most Americans look upon the Sears Tower, World Trade Center or Empire State Building as the ultimate achievement of modern skyscraper design, it is a modest twenty story building, built in a section of the city which, at the turn of the century was considered “uptown”, that holds the distinction of having starting it all; The Flatiron Building. Built at the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue by Daniel H. Burnham, the Flatiron Building conforms to the triangular plot of land which marks the intersection of East 23rd Street. At twenty stories tall the building quickly became a symbol of the skyscraper era and is considered the nations first true skyscraper. A rusticated limestone facade build on a steel frame, the building, when viewed from the north, “resembled a ship sailing up the Avenue.” (From Architectural Record # 12 (1902); 128-36 Seth M. Scheiner) Despite …

The Beginning

Tomoyuki Tanaka sat in his seat during the flight back to Tokyo a worried man. Ordinary looking, having inherited the short stocky build characteristic of many Japanese men, he had just celebrated the passing of his forty-fourth birthday, and was about to celebrate his tenth year as a producer at the Toho Motion Picture Company. Until now he had done quite well for the studio. “On the plane ride back to Tokyo, I was desperate,” Tanaka recalled. “I was sweating the whole time1.” The year was 1954, and the film was to have been In The Shadow of Glory, co-produced in cooperation with the Indonesian government, the plans for the film fell through when Tanaka could not get work permits for the film’s stars. Having a budget for a war film, but having no film to shoot, Tanaka agonized at the prospect of loosing face in the eye’s of his company. But it was during that plane ride that “desperation became his fried…and would lend him an idea that would develop into something far larger and more enduring than the project he left behind.2”

Fans of …

History Vortex offers you is a theory that says that if time travel were possible, it would be impossible to change the major events of history. That while it might be possible to change the small events (keep someone from dying in an auto accident, prevent someone from getting on a doom airliner, etc.); it would be impossible to alter major ones. The major events, the theory goes, are so ingrained within the “Web of Time,” to use a phrase from the series, that they are unchangeable. Therefore if one could, let’s say, travel back to the early 20th century when Hitler was still a boy, it would be impossible to kill him. History, the universe, God, nature, whatever you wished to call it would prevent you undermining the flow of time. The gun would jam, you’d be arrested, you’d die in an auto accident, something would keep you from killing Hitler, and history would move on.

With this in mind it is not unreasonable to establish that regardless of the TimeLords intervention to prevent the Daleks creation, it was bound to fail. “Genesis of the Daleks” is one of the finest …

Here you have a post about Japanese Pop Culture in America. About the global impact of the showbiz and entertainment industry. Awesome movies were inspired, and extraordinary games were developed. Superheroes, protagonists, and cult characters that defined these games as classics. These days the new trend is themed casino games which you can try for free. Anyway, let’s go back to our main topic today: “The Five Lives of King Ghidorah”. It is safe to say, without fear of contradiction, that King Ghidorah is the greatest foe Godzilla has ever faced. After Godzilla and Mothra, King Ghidorah is the most popular monster in Toho’s stable of monsters. But who or what exactly is this three-headed menace from space? What makes him so popular? And how, if at all possible, can we straighten out the mess that has become King Ghidorah’s timeline? History Vortex has the answer for the last question ; King Ghidorah has appeared in eight Toho fantasy films. Five times throughout the original or Showa Godzilla series, twice in the recent or Heisei Godzilla series and twice in the Mothra series of the …