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Rodan (film)
is a 1956 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the debut film of the titular monster Rodan, Toho's first kaiju film to be shot in color, and one of several giant monster films that found an audience outside Japan. Rodan would become a staple monster later crossing over into the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Kenji Sahara and Yumi Shirakawa. ''Rodan'' premiered in Japan on December 26, 1956, and was released in the United States in August 1957. Plot In the mining village of Kitamatsu, near the foothills of Mount Aso on the Japanese island of Kyushu, miners Goro and Yoshi enter a mine to start their shift, before the shaft floods. Shigeru Kawamura, a tunneling and safety engineer there, later enters the mine and discovers Yoshi's lacerated corpse. Above ground, a doctor examines Yoshi, who died from deep gashes caused by a sharp object. Two miners and a policeman are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Ishirō Honda
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, with his films having a significant influence on the film industry. Despite directing many Drama (film and television), drama, War film, war, Documentary film, documentary, and Comedy film, comedy films, Honda is best remembered for directing and co-creating the ''kaiju'' genre with special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya. Honda entered the Japanese film industry in 1934, working as the third assistant director on Sotoji Kimura's ''The Elderly Commoner's Life Study''. After 15 years of working on numerous films as an assistant director, he made his directorial debut with the short documentary film ''Ise-Shima'' (1949). Honda's first feature film, ''Aoi Shinju, The Blue Pearl'' (1952), was a critical success in Japan at the time and would lead ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Meganulon
is a fictional monster, or kaiju who first appeared in Toho's 2000 film '' Godzilla vs. Megaguirus''. A mutated version of the fictional dragonfly-like insect known as , Megaguirus is regarded as the queen of the species; according to Toho, she is 50 meters (164 feet) long, has a wingspan of 80 meters (262 feet) and weighs 12,000 metric tons (13,227 short tons). The first and only major appearance of the creature was in the 2000 film '' Godzilla vs. Megaguirus''. Overview Although the species of Meganulon, the origin of Megaguirus, were first depicted in the 1956 movie ''Rodan'', the monster itself did not appear until its debut in 2000. Megaguirus was first mentioned in the movie ''Godzilla vs. Megaguirus'' after a swarm of Meganula absorbed energy from Godzilla and quickly fled to a flooded section of Tokyo. After diving into the flood waters, the entire swarm latched on to an enormous, mutated version of Meganulon. This mutated creature, regarded as the queen, begins to molt on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Akihiko Hirata
, known professionally as , was a Japanese film actor. He is known for his work in the ''kaiju'' genre, including such films as ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'', '' The Mysterians'', '' Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla'', '' Terror of Mechagodzilla'', and his most famous role of Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, the brilliant but disturbed young scientist in the original ''Godzilla'', released in 1954. He starred in many movies, including Hiroshi Inagaki's ''Samurai'' trilogy. Hirata was married to actress Yoshiko Kuga from 1961 until his death. He died at age 56 in 1984 after a long battle with lung cancer. Early life Hirata was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1927, into a wealthy family. He was educated at the prestigious Tokyo University's School of Law. Before joining Shintoho as an assistant director (under his older brother, Yoshiki Onoda), Hirata moved into still photography, and eventually joined Toho in 1953, under the studio's "New Face" program, which would lead to his casting in ''Godzilla'' (alt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Fukuoka
is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. The area has long been considered the gateway to the country, as it is the nearest point among Japan's main islands to the Asian mainland. Although humans occupied the area since the Jomon period, some of the earliest settlers of the Yayoi period arrived in the Fukuoka area. The city rose to prominence during the Yamato period. Because of the cross-cultural exposure, and the relatively great distance from the social and political centers of Kyoto, Osaka, and later, Edo (Tokyo), Edo (Tokyo), Fukuoka gained a distinctive local culture and dialect that has persisted to the present. Fukuoka is the most populous city on Kyushu, Kyūshū island, followed by Kitakyushu. It is the largest city and metropolitan area west of Keihanshin. The city was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Japanese Self-Defence Force
The are the military forces of Japan. Established in 1954, the JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense with the Prime Minister as commander-in-chief. Since the end of the Cold War, and particularly into the 21st century, increased tensions with North Korea, China, and Russia have reignited debate over the status of the JSDF and their relationship to Japanese society. The JSDF have prioritized greater cooperation and partnership with Australia, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, the British Armed Forces, United Kingdom, the United States Forces Japan, United States, and NATO, as well as acquiring new equipment and hardware. History Establishment Surrender of Japan, Japan surrendered to the Allies of World War II, Allied Powers on 15 August 1945, and officially exchanged instruments of surrender in Tokyo Bay on 2 September, after whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Pteranodon
''Pteranodon'' (; from and ) is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of over . They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota and Alabama. More fossil specimens of ''Pteranodon'' have been found than any other pterosaur, with about 1,200 specimens known to science, many of them well preserved with nearly complete skulls and articulated skeletons. It was an important part of the animal community in the Western Interior Seaway. When the first fossils of ''Pteranodon'' were found, they were assigned to toothed pterosaur genera, ''Ornithocheirus'' and ''Pterodactylus''. In 1876, Othniel Charles Marsh recognised it as a genus of its own, making particular note of its complete lack of teeth, which at the time was unique among pterosaurs. Over the decades, multiple species would be assigned to ''Pteranodon'', though today, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which are broadly categorized in Island groups of the Philippines, three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. With a population of over 110 million, it is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, twelfth-most-populous country. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. It has Ethnic groups in the Philippines, diverse ethnicities and Culture o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Okinawa Prefecture
is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west and 400 kilometers north to south. Despite a modest land area of 2,281 km² (880 sq mi), Okinawa’s territorial extent over surrounding seas makes its total area nearly half the combined size of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Of its 160 Island, islands, 49 are inhabited. The largest and most populous island is Okinawa Island, which hosts the capital city, Naha, as well as major urban centers such as Okinawa (city), Okinawa, Uruma, and Urasoe, Okinawa, Urasoe. The prefecture has a subtropical climate, characterized by warm temperatures and high rainfall throughout the year. People from the Ryukyu Islands, Nansei Islands, including Okinawa Island, Okinawa, the Sakishima Islands, and parts of Kagoshima Prefecture, are often collectively referred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and Borders of China, borders fourteen countries by land across an area of nearly , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest country by land area. The country is divided into 33 Province-level divisions of China, province-level divisions: 22 provinces of China, provinces, 5 autonomous regions of China, autonomous regions, 4 direct-administered municipalities of China, municipalities, and 2 semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is List of cities in China by population, its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center. Considered one of six ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Supersonic Speed
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach number, Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) are often referred to as hypersonic. Flights during which only some parts of the air surrounding an object, such as the ends of rotor blades, reach supersonic speeds are called transonic. This occurs typically somewhere between Mach 0.8 and Mach 1.2. Sounds are traveling vibrations in the form of pressure waves in an elastic medium. Objects move at supersonic speed when the objects move faster than the speed at which sound propagates through the medium. In gases, sound travels longitudinally at different speeds, mostly depending on the molecular mass and temperature of the gas, and pressure has little effect. Since air temperature and composition varies significantly with altitude, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Japan Air Self-Defense Force
The , , also referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the Aerial warfare, air and space warfare, space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfare. The JASDF carries out combat air patrols around Japan, while also maintaining a network of ground and air early-warning radar systems. The branch also has an aerobatic team known as Blue Impulse and has provided air transport in United Nations, UN peacekeeping missions. The JASDF had an estimated 49,913 personnel as of 2018, and as of 2023 operates about 712 aircraft, approximately 321 of them being fighter aircraft. The service will be renamed in 2027 to the , in recognition of the increasing importance of the space domain. History Japan did not have a separate air force before and during World War II. Aviation operations were carried out by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and the Imperial Japanese Navy Ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
