15 Sights That Make Tokyo So Fascinating

Above, a view looking up the Sumida River from Tokyo Bay towards the
Kachidoki Bridge and the Tsukiji Central Wholesale Market.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

CNN.com's Travel section posted an article (along with a video) on the "15 Sights That Make Tokyo So Fascinating"  back in July 2011.

Number 8 is one that G-fans should recognize:

8. Godzilla

One ill-fated night, Godzilla, a giant radioactive reptile from the sea, climbs out from Tokyo Bay and attacks the city. After wreaking havoc and causing much death and destruction, he’s gone, but the Japanese army puts up a row of electrical towers along Tokyo’s coast to shoot 50,000 volts of electricity through the monster, should he come back again. 

This is the plot of the original 1954 “Godzilla,” a campy action thriller that has a direct connection to the nuclear attacks on Japan in 1945. 

The film’s director and co-writer, Ishiro Honda, was allegedly so shocked by the devastation from the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that he created the monster to act as a metaphor for the devastation. 

More than 50 years later, Godzilla (whose name is an amalgam of the Japanese for gorilla and whale) is as instantly recognizable as ever around the globe -- the freak monster inextricably tied to Japanese culture and Tokyo for evermore. 

More on CNNGo: 5 best Godzilla movies

Besides Godzilla, there are other familiar names of places in Tokyo that Godzilla fans would recognize: Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo Tower, Ginza, etc.

To see the list, go here.