Godzilla and the Imagination of Anxiety, from Hiroshima to COVID-19

Program Description:  Since Godzilla's first appearance nearly 70 years ago in the classic Gojira, the King of the Monsters has become a cinematic icon and a globally recognized symbol of Japan. But what can a giant, fire-breathing movie monster tell us about Japanese culture and Japan's national experience from the mushroom clouds of 1945 through the current global pandemic? This talk will explore how the 33 Godzilla films can help us understand Japan’s resilience in the face of disasters, the global popularity of Japanese creature features, and the ways we all address our fears of invisible threats, radioactive or viral.

Bio:  Bill Tsutsui is a specialist in the economic, environmental, and cultural history of modern Japan. Educated at Harvard, Oxford, and Princeton Universities, he is the author or editor of eight books, including Manufacturing Ideology: Scientific Management in Twentieth-Century Japan, Banking Policy in Japan, and Japanese Popular Culture and Globalization. His 2004 book Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters was called a “cult classic” by the New York Times and a Japanese translation was published by Chūkō sōsho. He has received Fulbright, ACLS, and Marshall Fellowships, and was awarded the John Whitney Hall Prize of the Association for Asian Studies in 2000 and the William Rockhill Nelson Prize for Non-Fiction in 2005. He currently serves on the boards of directors of the Association for Asian Studies, the US-Japan Council, and the Federation of State Humanities Councils, and was appointed to the Japan-United States Friendship Commission in 2020.

Tsutsui taught for seventeen years at the University of Kansas before becoming Dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at Southern Methodist University in 2010. From 2014 to 2019 he served as President of Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, where he is currently Professor Emeritus of History. His ongoing research focuses on the environmental and business history of the Japanese fishing industry and on Japanese popular culture.

Professor Lisa M. Brady joined Boise State University’s History faculty in fall 2003. She teaches courses in global, Asian, and environmental history and historical methodology. Her research examines the ways military activities—during peace time and in times of conflict—shape and are shaped by the natural environment. Her first book, War upon the Land: Military Strategy and the Transformation of Southern Landscapes during the American Civil War, was published by the University of Georgia Press in 2012. She is currently working on a volume on global war and environment for the Very Short Introduction series by Oxford University Press and on a book exploring the environmental history of the Korean War. Brady served as the editor-in-chief for the scholarly journal Environmental History from 2013 through 2019 and will be the History Department chair beginning Fall 2021.