Author: Daisuke Ishizuka In 1958, a playground slide shaped like a dinosaur was built at Tatarahama beach in Kanagawa Prefecture. The original plan for the slide was to use Godzilla design, but Toho did not allow the use Godzilla`s name or likeness. Despite that, people still called it the “Godzilla slide.” The dinosaur slide eventually fell into disrepair and was removed in 1973. Where it once stood, visitors can now see a 1/10th scale Godzilla footprint. Decades later, Toho approved a Godzilla slide. The project to build the new slide was supervised by Mr. Koichi Kawakita, special effects director for the Heisei Godzilla films. On November 3, 1999 (Godzilla`s 55th birthday), the Godzilla slide opened at the Adventure Land zone of Kurihama Flower Park in Kanagawa Prefecture. Attendees are able to enjoy various flowers from the four seasons, but we Tokusatsu fans skip past the flowers and go straight to Adventure Land, which is about 20 minutes by foot from the entrance of the park. Only children can play on the slide, but adults can enjoy it as a 9m (approximately 29.5 feet) tall Godzilla monument.
Be sure to check out the previous chapters in Daisuke Ishizuka`s Monumnets Series, here on SciFi Japan:
- Leiji Matsumoto Characters in Kokura — Monuments Series 1
- Doraemon in Roppongi — Monuments Series 2
- Daimajin Returns to Uzumasa — Monuments Series 3
- Father of Ultra at Sukagawa — Monuments Series 4
- Godzilla Towers Over the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku, Tokyo — Monuments Series 5