Japanese 50s/60s monster invasions
On I.Z. Reloaded (and then followed the link to a german site) I found this great Flickr set about Japanese 60s monsters which invade the Earth.
This is terrific stuff! Giant sea turtle on North Pole!
Giant bat attacking bullet train!!
Godzilla like monster robot!!!
Most of these creatures and disasters map directly upon the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese felt being powerless against such attacks which destroyed everything in one big bang. So the giant monster actually is the metaphor for the unstoppable invasion power (Americans), the attack itself is the metaphor for the atomic bomb and the havoc is ofcourse the metaphor for the damage the atomic bomb made.
I think we can compare it with the American Alien invasion paranoid in the 50s and 60s. The could be directly related to their fear of the Communist invasion.
The funny thing is that it is still anchored into the Japanese society today: look at the Mecha for instance. Gundam is all about giant monster robots invading worlds and space. Also Akira is a classic example of this fear.
As you can see: I love those pictures because of the nostalgic value and for the enormous fear they conveyed. Not anything near Gundam or Akira.
You can see both sets here:
