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Thursday, October 2, 2014

Godzilla's Nichigeki Theater

Above, the shinkansen passes the Nichigeki Theater after leaving
Tokyo Station on December 21, 1964. Photo: Kyodo News/AP.

The above photo has been accompanying articles on the 50th anniversary of Japan's shinkansen (bullet train) in various news outlets.

The photo was taken on December 21, 1964, two months after the shinkansens were put into service. The first shinkansens ran from Tokyo to Osaka.

The Toho Nichigeki Theater in Yurakucho (sandwiched in-between Ginza and Hibiya) is familiar to Godzilla fans. It was featured in the 1954 Godzilla as sort of an inside joke for theater patrons who were sitting in that very theater screening Godzilla. In the movie, Godzilla steps on the nearby train tracks. The electricity from the tracks course through Godzilla (it must've tickled him), causing his tail to whip around and smashing the theater building.

Above, Godzilla approaches the Nichigeki Theater in 1954.

The theater was later demolished (for real, this time) and the site is now occupied by the Yurakucho Mullion Building (featured in Return of Godzilla in 1984).

The Ginza-Hibiya areas of Tokyo are spotlighted in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan on page 28.

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