芹沢 SERIZAWA Developer’s Log 9: The Lucky Dragon No. 5 Incident

This is the story of how the Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident inspired the film Godzilla. My main sources for the information I share are August Ragone’s book Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters and Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski’s Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa.

The Luck Dragon No. 5 Incident

March 1st, 1954

The United States tested the Hydrogen Bomb at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, in the Pacific. Safety precautions were taken, and nations in the Pacific Ocean were warned to stay clear of the testing area. Unfortunately, the explosion was much bigger than expected, and the fallout far exceeded the testing area designated by the U.S.

The Japanese fishing boat Lucky Dragon No. 5, outside of the testing area, was exposed to radioactive fallout from the bomb test. They reported seeing a second sun, which was the light from the Hydrogen Bomb explosion, and then grey ash falling from the sky like snow. All 23 crew members were exposed to severe radiation, as was their catch of tuna.

Once back in Tokyo, their contaminated catch was distributed to the fishing markets, and the crew of the Lucky Dragon were hospitalized with radiation sickness, with one of them eventually succumbing to his wounds.

Tuna Scare

When Japan learned of the distribution of the radioactive tuna, it caused widespread panic in the country. Just 9 years prior, they had experienced the horror of 2 atomic bombings, and now a Japanese citizen was the first victim of the Hydrogen Bomb.Needless to say, this strained Japanese-U.S. relations to a point they hadn’t been since the end of World War 2. However, while negotiations, apologies, and reparations were being discussed between the two nations, Toho Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, who was reading everything in the newspapers, was inspired to make a movie.

The People Behind Godzilla

Tomoyuki Tanaka, using the tragic incident coupled with previous film influences like the original King Kong and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, put together a rough outline and got the “green light” from Toho Studios.

Eiji Tsuburaya

Tanaka assigned special effects work to Eiji Tsuburaya, who had been previously blacklisted from the movie industry by the American Occupation force for making propaganda films during World War 2.

Shigeru Kayama

Shigeru Kayama, a writer known for his stories about weird creatures like Orangu Pendaku-no Gyakushu or Revenge of the Orang Pendak, would write the first treatment, using a combination of his ideas and Tanaka’s.

Ishiro Honda

As the director, Tanaka chose Ishiro Honda. Prior to 1954, Honda worked in the Japanese film industry and was drafted into the Japanese Army once in 1934 and then recalled again in 1939. The second time being stationed in China. There, he was in charge of what the Japanese called “comfort stations” or brothels that served Japanese occupation forces in China. Honda hated the war, and it would change how he saw the world. When discussing his wartime experience, he would say:

“. . . Instead of thinking, "What about Japan?" what I got from my wartime experiences was, "What about humanity?"

In many of his movies, characters didn’t bleed profusely when shot or injured, causing fans watching his movies decades later to flag his action sequences as cheesy or unrealistic. But after WW2, he had seen enough blood and made the conscious decision not to show graphic acts of violence in his films.

Before filming for Godzilla commenced. Honda would rewrite the original script by Kayama, giving it the strong anti-nuclear theme that turned the film into what many believe is a masterpiece. Without Ishiro Honda, Godzilla would still exist, but it would have been most likely your standard monster movie instead of an allegory for the nuclear fears of a nation. Honda, in interviews, would describe himself as a Humanist.

Akira Ifukube

Akira Ifukube was chosen to score the original 1954 Godzilla movie. His powerful compositions captured the terror and grandeur of the monster, with the iconic theme becoming synonymous with Godzilla throughout its 70-year run. He also created Godzilla’s roar by taking a leather glove, coating it in pine resin, and rubbing it along the strings of a double bass.

Scenes for 芹沢 SERIZAWA

With this team assembled, they would go on to make one of the most iconic film icons in the world. Godzilla was released later the same year, on November 3, 1954. In the opening scene, a fishing boat is seen with its crew on deck enjoying some downtime when a giant flash of light engulfs the ship, causing it to sink in flames—an obvious nod to Lucky Dragon No. 5.

Naturally, these scenes have to be depicted in my game as well. I chose to do the boat-sinking scene for this post as the unique tile count is far easier to deal with than the more complicated scene above, with the actors covering their eyes. That one will be for another post.

Hey, if you've gotten this far, thanks for reading all that! Like always, I hope you learned something new, and until next time, later!