This paper examines how Japanese victimization following the atomic bombings of World War II is portrayed in two distinct works: the 1954 monster film Gojira and the documentary Voice of Hibakusha. The paper compares how each work frames the cause of victimization — internal in Gojira, where Japan's own history awakens the threat, versus external in Voice of Hibakusha, where real survivors describe suffering inflicted by an outside force. Despite these differences, both works converge on the idea that victims must become survivors who actively work to prevent future catastrophe.
World War II left the countries involved devastated and permanently changed. This became true for Japan on August 6, 1945, when the U.S. Army dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, an act carried out in the context of ongoing Pacific conflict. Vast areas of land were destroyed and thousands of lives were ended. Japan has carried the weight of this tragedy for decades and struggled with the idea of its own victimization. This struggle plays out in the art, literature, and film of post-war Japan. In the documentary Voice of Hibakusha, victims of the bombings spoke about their experiences and how those experiences changed their lives. The 1954 film Gojira depicts Japan being victimized on a large scale once again, but the threat comes not only as a side effect of war — it also emerges from Japan's own past. Both works address Japanese victimization and conclude that the role of victim is an important one that must effect change in the rest of the world.
In Gojira, a prehistoric monster is awakened by atomic radiation and wreaks havoc across Japan. The entire country is helpless as the monster storms through its cities, and every attempt to stop the beast proves fruitless. At one point a giant electrified fence is erected along the coast, but the monster is not deterred. Gojira is the ultimate villain, and the Japanese are his helpless victims.
Early in the film, the Japanese seem to bear some responsibility for the monster's existence. An old man explains that the monster had threatened the country in the past, leading citizens to sacrifice young girls to appease the beast. Later, a zoologist states that atomic radiation from bomb tests caused the monster's awakening. The film hesitates to mention the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki explicitly, and when a bombing is referenced it remains unspecified. In this way, the film portrays the Japanese as victims while simultaneously suggesting they caused their own victimization.
In Voice of Hibakusha, Japanese speakers also recount how they were victimized, but here the victimizer is clearly an outside force. The interviewees discuss not only the physical effects of the bombings but also the lasting emotional and psychological suffering they have endured. For example, Keiko Matsuda, who was 14 at the time of the attack, states, "I had two children, but I had not told them about this experience. And I don't want to talk about it" (Voice of Hibakusha). The documentary was made forty years after the bombing, and she remains profoundly affected by the tragedy. She cannot bring herself to speak about it and does not want her children to know of her experience. All of the people interviewed for the documentary suffered some form of emotional trauma from the bombings, and their victimization continues long after the events themselves have passed into history.
These two depictions of victimization differ primarily in their portrayal of its cause. Voice of Hibakusha deals with real events and cannot be filtered through an artistic lens in the same way a feature film can; Gojira, by contrast, is an artistic representation of Japanese victimization. In Gojira, the Japanese bear some responsibility for the monster's awakening and are ultimately the only ones capable of stopping it. However, this is not the only way the film shows the Japanese taking control of their role as victim.
In both works, the people do not see themselves merely as victims but also as survivors. The duty of the survivor, as each work frames it, is to ensure that the tragedies they have endured do not happen again. In Gojira, Dr. Serizawa deploys his oxygen destroyer to kill the monster, even though he had previously been deeply opposed to using the device. As a survivor of both the monster's attacks and World War II, Serizawa feels obligated to stop the continued victimization of his fellow citizens. A parallel impulse appears in Voice of Hibakusha. Many interviewees express the belief that by speaking out about their experiences they can help prevent another nuclear attack. Isao Kita, who was 33 at the time of the bombing, states, "The atomic bomb does not discriminate [...] I think it cannot be allowed to happen again anywhere in the world" (Voice of Hibakusha). Kita demonstrates that bearing witness is itself a form of advocacy against nuclear weapons — speaking out becomes the means by which survivors work to stop future crises.
In the end, both works show that the Japanese people still see themselves as victims. They portray themselves as constant victims, but in their role as victim they are able to impact the world around them. The Japanese stop seeing themselves merely as victims and begin seeing themselves as survivors who can change the world for the better.
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