# What would US-Japanese relations be like if Godzilla were real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999 "2009-08-01T20:41:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/41 "2009-08-03T17:45:43Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > We are Americans. We are very good at making things dead. I’m sure if Osama bin Laden were 50 meters tall, we would have found him by now. > [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Either way, what do you do with it after its dead? > > That’s a mighty big, mighty radioactive, piece of rotting lizard meat. In the first movie, they dissolved the flesh right off his bones. Obviously, he got better. > [@GIGObuster](#): > > I would think that the US would notice the monster gap and attempt to develop some of their own. I’m sure most posters know this but just for the record, the U.S. had the early lead in the monster race with **King Kong** (giant beast goes on rampage in nation’s biggest city - sound familiar?) and **The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms** (nuclear weapons testing unleashes a giant prehistoric reptile that goes on rampage in nation’s biggest city - sound very familiar?). And of course we dramatically escalated it with **Cloverfield**. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/42 "2009-08-03T17:58:43Z")
Diplomatic talks would be rather annoying with everyone’s lips moving at a different speed than their words. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/43 "2009-08-03T18:00:32Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > In the first movie, they dissolved the flesh right off his bones. Obviously, he got better. Different monster. Presumably Godzilla 1 was the female (and mother of Minya) and all subsequent Godzillas in the original TOHO series were the male mate. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/44 "2009-08-03T20:11:58Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Diplomatic talks would be rather annoying with everyone’s lips moving at a different speed than their words. Not to mention Purposeful Grimaces and Terrible Sounds. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/45 "2009-08-03T21:20:02Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Not to mention Purposeful Grimaces and Terrible Sounds. Raymond Burr could translate. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/46 "2009-08-03T21:42:19Z")
Raymond Burr is dead. We’re screwed. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/47 "2009-08-03T22:36:07Z")
I wouldn’t worry about a Godzilla corpse rotting in the streets of Tokyo. He may be an atom-age dinosaur, but he’s a marine-dwelling dino – hence, he’s _seafood_. I’ve yet to hear of anything from the ocean that the Japanese can’t find a way to make terribly chic, healthy and appetizing to eat. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/48 "2009-08-03T22:45:18Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m sure most posters know this but just for the record, the U.S. had the early lead in the monster race with King Kong (giant beast goes on rampage in nation’s biggest city - sound familiar?) and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (nuclear weapons testing unleashes a giant prehistoric reptile that goes on rampage in nation’s biggest city - sound very familiar?). And of course we dramatically escalated it with Cloverfield. It goes back further than that – **The Lost World** from 1925, although set in London, was made here, and featured a brontosaur running amuch through London. But even before that, circa 1920, we had Windsor McKay’s **The Giant Pet** , which was the first cinemtaic depiction of the Giant Creature Running through the City, complete with biplanes attacking it (sound familiar?) Even before the cinema, McKay was doing gian creatures in the city with his _Little Nemo in Slumberland_ and _Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend_ comic strips. And he, in turn, was influenced by the work of Gellett Burgess (who gave us the poem “The Purple Cow”, even though that’s not about giant things), who is arguably the inventor of the genre. H.G. Wells was in a unique position to invent the genre, what with his _Food of the Gods_ and _War of the Worlds_, but he didn’t. Jonathan Swift’s _Gulliver’s Travels_ probably gives root inspiration, but it’s obvious to me that the Giant Creature Running Amuch Through the Big City is an American invention, and largely a cinematic one. Godzilla is a Johnny-come-lately. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/49 "2009-08-03T23:15:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Raymond Burr is dead. We’re screwed. _Dammit._ ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/50 "2009-08-04T01:45:56Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As Godzilla became a defender of Japan, it is logic to suppose that the Japanese found a way to control him and the other monsters (Probably with an interface controlled by kids or a box with little singers (don’t ask)). Monster Island? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/51 "2009-08-04T01:48:11Z")
I think, with Godzilla on the loose, the Japanese-American relations would only improve if in the corner of the talks sat Mike, Servo and Crowe. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/52 "2009-08-04T02:00:30Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As Godzilla became a defender of Japan, it is logic to suppose that the Japanese found a way to control him and the other monsters Probably with an interface… Like [Spock’s Brain.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XNPD380IpBQ/SeIVZxhj5uI/AAAAAAAAFSw/xG7RH-br9tE/s400/P129_16.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/53 "2009-08-04T02:45:51Z")
“My God!” will be the Oath of choice for unarmed conspicious daily rail commuters. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999/54 "2009-08-04T23:32:43Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Monster Island? It’s actually a peninsula. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-us-japanese-relations-be-like-if-godzilla-were-real/504999.md?page=2)