Kaiju
Kaiju, literally strange beast, is the Japanese term for the giant monsters of film and television, and for the genre of monster films in which they appear, kaiju eiga. Godzilla, released in 1954, is often credited with pioneering the genre and setting its template.
Definition
Kaiju eiga are a subgenre of tokusatsu, Japanese special-effects filmmaking. They usually show creatures of varying origins and sizes attacking cities, usually in Japan, and fighting the Self-Defense Forces, other monsters, or both. Unlike many Western monster films, they have often carried social and political commentary that reflected their times. The word refers both to the monsters and to the genre, and in English it usually means the Japanese style specifically: actors in monster suits on scale-model sets. The older term for giant movie monsters, daikaiju, giant monster, has largely given way to kaiju.
The monsters are often metaphors. Godzilla first stood for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of postwar Japan after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident of 1954, when fallout from an American test reached a Japanese fishing boat. The American film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was released in Japan in 1954 as The Atomic Kaiju Appears, the first use of the genre's name in a film title.
Origin
Japanese giant monster films with suit actors go back to the 1930s, to films such as Wasei Kingu Kongu of 1933 and The Great Buddha Arrival of 1934. The first to find international success was Godzilla in 1954, made under the effects director Eiji Tsuburaya and the director Ishiro Honda, who are credited with popularising the genre. In the 1960s the studio Daiei Film launched a rival with the giant turtle Gamera, whose first film in 1965 carried daikaiju in its Japanese title, and the Ultra Series brought monsters to television. Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah joined Godzilla at Toho; Tsuburaya Productions, Shochiku and Nikkatsu made monsters of their own.
Tokusatsu as a word was popularised during the first monster boom of 1966 to 1968, and the toys followed the screens. In 1966 the toy maker Marusan released its first soft vinyl kaiju figures to coincide with the popularity of Ultra Q.
Key facts
| Meaning | Strange beast; giant monster |
|---|---|
| Genre | Kaiju eiga, a subgenre of tokusatsu |
| Template | Godzilla, 1954, Toho; effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, directed by Ishiro Honda |
| Rivals and companions | Gamera (Daiei, from 1965); the Ultra Series monsters |
| Method | Suit actors, known as suitmation, with miniature sets |
How to identify it in collecting
- Studio and licence. Kaiju toys carry the rights holder's mark, such as Toho for Godzilla. In our handling, a licence mark is the first thing we read on a box or foot.
- Maker. Marusan, Bullmark and Bandai made the best-known vintage figures; the foot or back stamp names the maker.
- Material. Vintage kaiju toys are mostly soft vinyl or tinplate; read the entries on sofubi and tin toys.
- Era. The design of a monster changed from film to film, so the face and form help date a toy to a film.
Where it appears in the collection
The house holds kaiju from the first boom to the present: a Bullmark Baragon electric walking tin kaiju, a vintage Marusan Godzilla in blue soft vinyl and a Bullmark Giras remote-control tin toy from the Ultraman world. The monster's collecting field is read in our guide to collecting Godzilla and the toys in our guide to Marusan and Bullmark kaiju vinyl. Heroes and monsters share our tokusatsu shelf.
Related entries
- Tokusatsu: the special-effects tradition kaiju belong to.
- Bandai, Bullmark and the kaiju heroes in vinyl.
- The Godzilla collection: the films' monster in vinyl, tin and embroidery.
Sources
- Kaiju, encyclopaedia entry. wikipedia.org
- Tokusatsu, encyclopaedia entry. wikipedia.org
- Sofubi, encyclopaedia entry, for Marusan's 1966 figures. wikipedia.org
Last reviewed 14 November 2026. The Japonista Curation and Concierge Team, Tokyo, Japan.