Japan's Green Monsters - by Sean Rhoads & Brooke McCorkle (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book provides a new interpretation of these monsters, or kaijū, and their respective movies. Analyzing Japanese history, society and film, the authors demonstrate various ways in which this monster cinema tackles environmental and ecological issues--from nuclear power and industrial pollution to biodiversity and climate change"--

Book Synopsis

In 1954, a massive irradiated dinosaur emerged from Tokyo Bay and rained death and destruction on the Japanese capital. Since then Godzilla and other monsters, such as Mothra and Gamera, have gained cult status around the world.

This book provides a new interpretation of these monsters, or kaiju-ū, and their respective movies. Analyzing Japanese history, society and film, the authors show the ways in which this monster cinema take on environmental and ecological issues--from nuclear power and industrial pollution to biodiversity and climate change.

Review Quotes

"a meticulously documented work of seminal scholarship that is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university collections"-Midwest Book Review

"an interesting study of both film and psychology...a must read"- Against the Grain

"detailed, scholarly and well-written...well worth reading and re-reading...Definitely recommended"-G-Fan

"Enjoyable and engaging... And the book will appeal to scholars of film studies, Asian studies, environmental studies, and popular culture seeking a more in-depth look at the rise of the giant monsters."-H-Net Reviews

"Rhoads and McCorkle also do an excellent job drawing connections between the scores of these films and their environmental commentary. ...a useful volume for readers interested in the political potential of popular cinema. ...Because Japan's Green monsters successfully demonstrates that kaijū cinema provides a place for important conversations regarding rapid environmental changes and existential threats, undergraduate and graduate students, university faculty, and members of the general public interested in the intersections of film studies, music studies, visual studies, cultural studies, and environmental studies will benefit from this book."-Journal of Popular Film and Television

"Rhoads and McCorkle's study is a valuable contribution to Godzilla studies, kaiju eiga, and ecocriticism. Their work should be considered alongside that of William Tsutsui, Chon Noriega, and Yoshikuni lgarashi as necessities for serious scholarship of Godzilla. The strength of this study is the way in which it considers all of the Godzilla, Mothra, and Gamera movies as parts of a continuum larger and more complex than its individual components and as examples of a genre that has been undervalued for far too long."-SFRA Review

About the Author

Sean Rhoads is a film historian, Japanologist, and lifelong monster cinema aficionado. He has taught courses on East Asia and published on Godzilla and environ-mentalism in G-Fan magazine, and lectured on Japanese monster cinema at G-FEST. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario. Brooke McCorkle Okazaki is an assistant professor of music at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She has published in Horror Studies and the Journal of Fandom Studies.