As one of the most recognisable Japanese icons, it’s perhaps no surprise that statues and models of Godzilla are considered a good idea by many to attract interest to an area. The radioactive monster appeared on top of Hotel Gracery in Shinjuku a few years ago, there’s a big one outside Toho Studios in Setagaya, and smaller stone statues materialised outside a restaurant in Shinagawa as well as Utsunomiya Station (Tochigi prefecture) in the wake of ‘Shin Godzilla‘ (2016) being released.

If you’re thinking that I’ve somehow forgotten about the small one in Hibiya then I haven’t as this new statue is a replacement for that one. I actually walked through this area of Hibiya/Yurakucho last month on my deep historical walking tour of Tokyo and saw that the area was under construction but little did I know that the final finishing touches were being put on a new Gojira statue. The old statue has now supposedly been relocated to the newly refurbished Toho Cinemas Hibiya. It had stood on the square since 1995 and even contained a quote from the original 1954 film saying that more monsters would loom over the area. Well what do you know but that has come true with this recent replacement.

When I heard that the new statue was based on the monster seen in ‘Shin Gojira‘ (2016) I feared that it may have been the slightly comical looking creature which first appeared in that film. Thankfully though it was the the more imposing one that reappeared twice its original size which is depicted in this new statue which stands at three metres in height including the platform.

This wasn’t planned to be part of the ‘On The Trail of Shin Godzilla’ series as I had no idea about this statue until a short time before it was unveiled at the end of last month. However, as it is the 2016 incarnation of the fire-breathing radioactive lizard, it is easy enough for me to slip this new statue, the largest Godzilla statue in Japan no less, into a special post.

The movie quote inscribed on the plaque states that “The human race must co-exist with Godzilla.”

The newly named Hibiya Godzilla Square is located at 1-2-2 Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda-ku. It is 3-4 minutes on foot from Hibiya station on the Chiyoda, Hibiya and Mita lines. Similarly, it is also just a four minute walk from Yūrakuchō station on the Yūrakuchō, Yamanote and Keihintohuku lines.

Bonus: This package (below) dropped through the door of the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre about a year ago now. It came from Yokosuka (Kanagawa prefecture) which is home to the huge Gojira slide. I finally decided to have it for brunch yesterday so that it could be included in this post. I wouldn’t exactly call it cooking as it was just a bag that you add to a pot of boiling water for a few minutes. Add some rice and serve. Easy!

As for the taste, it was certainly spicier than the curry I usually eat. In fact my mouth was on fire at times which isn’t so surprising for something called Gojira curry!!