It's that time of year again... When Godzilla-shaped Christmas trees start to appear!
Here's a round-up of a few from the last few years.
Godzilla in Shinjuku.... Just kidding!
It's actually only a little bigger than human-sized.
You can spot this one most years among the Christmas illuminaton behind Takashimaya Times Square.
Will 2011 turn into a Very Kaiju ("Monster") Christmas too?
Godzilla debuted in 1954 and has been a staple of Japanese pop culture ever since.
He appears in everything from movies to videogames to commercials in Japan...
More top stories from AltJapan
• Good and Good For Ya "The very first video is of my expedition to Shinjuku's Piss Alley to sample some grilled salamander."
• Creature Feature "Ever wonder what that cavalcade of creatures sculpted around the roof of your local Buddhist temple is all about?"
And now, apparently, religious decorations as well.
(Well, as "religious" as you can call a totally secular display of lights, anyway...)
Eds. Note: Click through the gallery for more Godzillas—as well as Ultraman's Baltan Seijin.
Matt Alt is the co-founder of game localization company AltJapan, which has translated titles in the Dragon Quest series, the Ninja Gaiden series, the Dynasty Warriors Gundam series, and more. He is also the co-author of Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide and Ninja Attack! True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws. Check out Alt's YouTube channel.
The AltJapan is "when East meets West...Alt hell breaks loose."
Republished with permission.
(Top photo: AltJapan)
This pic of a smoke-breathing 'zilla-tree has been popping up a lot over the last few days, but the tree hasn't actually been sighted since its appearance in a November 2000 Godzilla festival held in the Odaiba Aqua City mall.
This one also appeared in front of Odaiba Aqua City in 2007. (What is it with these guys and monsters? Then again, they have a scaled-down Statue of Liberty right outside, too.) Love the pro-wrestling style tree take-down.
This rather chubby-looking one hails from the distant year of 2004, when it appeared in the Osaka Business Park.
And last but not least, a totally unoffical neighborhood Godzilla light-o-rama from 2007, which gets points for having awesome taste if not exactly awesome execution. Then again, the fact it looks like a kid's drawing really "makes" it.
The airwaves are silent with regards to Godzilla Christmas sightings this year so far, but I do have one report from the far-flung city of Hekinan (碧南市) in Kansai.... Baltan Seijin from Ultraman! (See the big red-and-silver guy himself here!)