Tofugu's "10 Real-Life Kaiju of Japan"

Above, Tokyo Tower, a magnet to movie kaiju. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

By all indications, the half-billion dollar worldwide box office receipts of Godzilla by Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. proves that interest in kaiju movies have been re-kindled. Japan's movie-goers have put Godzilla over the $500 million threshold this past week.

Such re-kindled interest prompted Tofugu.com to post an article on ten real-life kaiju that visitors to Japan may encounter. Also, some of them have movie counterparts, which Tofugu points out.

They begin with:

Movies like Pacific Rim and the thankfully-better-than-last-time American Godzilla have been rekindling a love for giant monsters. Kaijū have been igniting the imaginations of children everywhere since dudes in rubber suits first started wailing on other dudes in rubber suits. It’s easy to get swept up in the delight of these movies and their fantastic creatures, but let’s not neglect the real-life kaijū you might see on a trip to Japan. You might not see Godzilla during your travels, but you could very well bump into one of these ten Japanese beasties.

To read the article, go here.