Japanese monster films introduce not only monsters but also catastrophic events (natural and manmade). Take earthquake and Godzilla as examples. Earthquake is usually being featured in Japanese films and is due to natural factors. Likewise, Godzilla is a rather well-known fictional monster created by the Japanese. It was empowered by nuclear radiation.   Tsutsui argues that the elements mentioned in these Japanese monster films are closely related to their culture and history. These elements have mirrored Japan’s ‘historical vulnerability’. The article also mentions that most of these films have a happy ending, in contrast to the harsh reality. Furthermore, Tsutsui

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In Oh No, There Goes Tokyo, William discussed the relationship between Japan’s history and its disaster fictional movies. The geography of Japan has shaped its conditions for frequent natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis etc. Besides, the war brought disaster and trauma to Japan. Both conditions have shaped Japan into another disaster capital in the movie world. This chapter also discusses the effect or purpose of this kind of movie. On one side, movie makers claimed replacing those events in movies could release citizens’ deep anxieties and psychological stress in the postwar. On the other hand, some people consider

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Japanese disaster films often feature giant monsters, cities destroyed, and the end of the earth. These things, in William’s view, are related to the history of Japan. After Japan has experienced various disasters, in order to make themselves able to get out of the disaster, the Japanese have made many disaster movies. In the midst of disasters, victims are often greeted with intense warmth. And then the part about race, some movies will shoot some multi-racial places, such as Chinatown. It’s easy to shoot different cultures and metaphysics in these kinds of places, these elements make the film more interesting,

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William M. Tsutsui in his book chapter called “Oh No, There Goes Tokyo” discussed the relationship between apocalyptic films and Japanese history. It investigated the postwar history of Japan and found out the fantasy of annihilation in popular culture is indeed reflecting Japan’s vulnerable history of man-made and natural disasters. Examples such as the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War 2. This history was expressed by different filmmakers and animation makers. Another point the author quoted from Susan Sontag that has mentioned is the reasons why imagination of disaster can be such a popular mainstream in film

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Willian dug deep into the connection of Japan’s disaster movie craze with social problems and historical issues. I think the disaster movie craze plays the same role as the low desire society when considering their effects on society. Explicit social stratification makes the lower middle class under high pressure. The imagination of massive disasters breaks social rules. As Willian said in the article, people “put aside their difference.” The class difference would weaken after the apocalypse. All their worry is gone with the social rules. Thus, Movies give people a way to escape from dissatisfactory reality. From the historical perspective,

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What’s shocking is how Japanese disaster film originated from its lean history and evokes people’s reflection on the embellishment of this topic (e.g., atomic bomb as a mushroom or other genres). On one hand, it draws the Japanese public to reflect on the destructions they have made and received during WW2 and serve as a complex psychological healing method that allays the horror in their mind. On the other hand, although in the 1960s the grandiose postwar reconstruction had once again put Japan on top of the world, some argue that it still nevertheless endures as an invisible scar in

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The text shows how disaster movies are popular in Japan. I am analyzing its function in politics and socio-economic aspect. In my opinion, mentioning atomic bomb in movie does not only regularize the fear of the Japanese, but it is also a strategy for Japan to portray itself as a victim in the world war. The post-war movie from japan is only recording the trauma they received but ignored the war crimes they committed. Therefore, historical amnesia is shown in a lot of post-war movies in Japan. Secondly, in disaster film, the city is always deconstructed and reconstruct in a

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