Author and Photographer: Daisuke Ishizuka
The "70 Years of Special Effects Movies - It All Started with Godzilla" (特撮映画の70年—それは『ゴジラ』から始まった, Tokusatsu Eiga no 70-nen — Soreha “Gojira” Kara Hajimatta) exhibition was held July 12, 2024 - September 8, 2024 at the Ueda City Museum of Art in the Ueda Santo Myuze. It was part of the DNA of TOKUSATSU series that feature displays of original suits, props and production materials used to make Godzilla and other special effects films.
SciFi Japan correspondent Daisuke Ishizuka attended the event and shared some details and photos from his visit...
The exhibition DNA of TOKUSATSU started in 2016 and it has held at the various museum or halls in Japan. It came to Ueda City, Nagano prefecture in this summer. The year of 2024 is 70th anniversary for Godzilla and the exhibition looks back on the history of Godzilla/Tokusatsu movies through actual monster suits, props and design works.
Also, this year is the happy 50th anniversary for Mechagodzilla, and Mechagodzilla was on hand to welcome visitors at the museum. However, it was 1975 model of TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA instead of 1974 model of GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA.