In GD, there is a discussion going on about a hypothetical US-UK schism and its effect on the world. Someone brought up the issue of whose side Japan would take, inspiring this post:
I have no bone in the aforementioned debate. But it made me wonder: what are US-Japanese relations like in a world in which Godzilla and his ilk were awakened by US nuclear bombs?
Thoughts, anyone? Bueller?
Don’t know about US-Japanese relations, but I do know Bull Halsey would be laughing his ass off!
Presumably, their post-war economic boom would never have happened, so they’d essentially be the Poland or maybe the Yugoslavia of East Asia and probably a satellite state of China, at least for a time. So long as Gojira remained confined to the islands, I’d expect the populace would have been evacuated long ago, and the whole place would by now be a high-flyover tourist destination, like Haight-Ashbury or a Kansas City Royals ballgame.
What about triangular diplomacy with Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan?
Mayhap. Oh the other hand they might have experienced a technological boom based in part on the extreme motivation a giant kaiju would be to the military industrial complex, and in part on Godzilla’s culling of the stupider portions of the populace.
What about it? Also, wouldn’t that be rectangular diplomacy?
“The only place Lizard will be spoken is i Hell!”
It would certainly put complaints about Acid Rain in a new perspective.
I don’t really see it making much difference. Whatever big critters come boiling up from the depths will be promptly killed, likely before they get more than halfway through a decent, movie-sized rampage. We are Americans. We are very good at making things dead.
In this situation I would foresee a Japanese dominated world within thirty years of Godzilla emerging. The constant monster attacks would drive them to create anti-kaiju technologies including the inevitable giant mech. Once the Japanese have those it’s all over for the rest of the world.
But only after the ninety minute mark.
True, but those 90 minutes are total destruction of whatever Japanese city the producers are based in. So it’s a win-win for the US. We nuke Japan, they get monsters, we nuke monsters, repeat as necessary. Kinda hard on the civilians, but they should have thought of that before they folded to Perry.
We were always at war with Mothra.
Gojira is real. After his initial appearance, the Illuminati worked very hard to capture him and convince people that it was all just a movie.
The movie has a bad rep and deservedly so, but I found the French special agents hilarious. I especially loved that their attempt to blend in with Americans was to chew gum constantly.
Which Godzilla?
The 50 meter tall, 20,000 ton version, or the 100 meter tall, 60,000 ton version?
Either way, what do you do with it after its dead?
That’s a mighty big, mighty radioactive, piece of rotting lizard meat.
He was, but with a lot of effort on our parts, we shunted him over to the same Universe in which Superman is real. Let him deal with it.
What do you thinks up with all those super cheap ramen noodles? They just put a tiny bit in each package. Like fighting ignorance, its just taking awhile.
Trust me, I’ve seen the giant freezer.
Perhaps I was unclear in my OP. I was assuming that the King of Monsters and his lesser ilk were concentrating their attacks on Japan, not the US (as implied in the post I quoted) and thinking that there might be a wee bit of resentment on the part of the Japanese against us for our part in awakening the kaiju.
I would think they would be concentrating on not ending up as a lot of the folks in Jurassic Park to have much time to worry about it.