I love Japanese monster movies; particularly when the monster is GIANT (Kaiju)! I also love old Japanese wood block prints; known as Ukiyo-e. In this series I’ve mashed up some of my favorite Kaiju into old landscape prints from centuries past.
Godzilla In The Rain
First up is a night scene featuring the millennial Godzilla visiting the Kagurazaka neighborhood in Edo / Tokyo. This print by Tsuchiya Koitsu is part of the series Sketches of Famous Places In Japan.
The title is Ushigome Kagurazaka and was produced in 1939.
Kong of the Forest
Next up is King Kong. This image depicts Kong in the forest of Nikko, Japan. The original print title is ‘Road to Nikko, by Kawase Hasui from 1930.
Godzilla Mountain
The Godzilla behind the mountain print features the Millennial incarnation of Godzilla wandering through the mountains. The landscape is Samburam Rock, Kumgang Mountain, 1939, by Kawase Hasui.
Gamera’s Great Wave
In possibly the most famous of all the old Japanese woodblock prints, we have the 1990’s version of Gamera frolicking in the Great Wave Off Kanagawa, 1829, by Hokusai. The original was from his series, 36 views of Mount Fuji.
Silhouette of Doom
The Silhouetted Godzilla print features the classic Godzilla walking away from Edo’s pleasure district at night. The scene is Cherry Blossoms at Night on Naka-no-chō in the New Yoshiwara, 1840, by Ando Hiroshige. Edo later renamed as Tokyo. The original was from a series “Famous Places in the Eastern Capital”.
King Ghidorah
This image features the classic King Ghidorah flying above Mount Eboshi. This scene is called Sunrise on Mount Eboshi. It is from the series: Twelve Scenes in the Japan Alps, by Yoshida Hiroshi in 1926.
Godzilla Village
The most menacing image of this series also has the prettiest colors. A sleepy village in the path of the classic Godzilla with mount Fuji in the background. The landscape is Mount Fuji from Mizukubo, 1935, by Takahashi Hiroaki.
All the versions I’ve seen of the original print have very dark muddy colors. I took the liberty of trying to coax out the underlying colors digitally. I suspect the results are not very accurate to the original, but it makes for a more vibrant image.
Daimajin
The image of the pagoda features the giant statue known as Daimajin, “great demon god”. He would come to life to help those in need. Diamajin may not be well known, but he had a trilogy of movies back in 1966. They left an impression on me from the old Creature Double Features that dominated the Saturdays of my youth. The scene here is the Kinryuzan Temple at Asakusa, 1938. by Tsuchiya Koitsu.
Godzilla Bay
The water scene portrays the original incarnation of Godzilla taking a stroll around the island of Zaimoku.
I suspect the guy in the boat didn’t catch much fish that day.
The scene is Zaimoku Island at Matsushima from the series Collected Views of Japan, 1933, by Kawase Hasui.
Ghidora Mountain
This scene features the modern Ghidora before Mount Fuji. This print by Ogata Gekkō is part of his series Views of Mount Fuji. The title is "Dragon Rising up to Heaven" and was produced in 1897.
Godzilla Blues
The image here depicts the classic Showa era Godzilla lumbering in the night. The original is an Aizuri-e print – woodblock prints made entirely or predominantly in blue ink. This was done by
Uehara Konen in 1910, titled “Moonrise”.
Godzilla Ink
Here is a scene featuring the Heisei era Godzilla of the early 1990’s. The original print is a Sumi-e style ink painting by Tetsu Fusen in the mid 19th century.
Godzilla Temple
The scene here features the current incarnation of big G, also known as the Monsterverse Godzilla. The original print is by the great Kawase Hasui. This is the Nigatsudo Temple, Nara and was originally produced in 1934.
Godzilla Boat Fire
Here is a scene featuring the Millennium era Godzilla with those jagged spines . Big G has inserted himself into The Naval Battle of Pungdo, Korea. This type of print is referred to as Senso-e; which is a dramatic form of Japanese woodblock prints that depicts patriotic or battle imagery. Original print was produced by Kobayashi Kiyochika in 1894.