Kazuyo Kojima

Movies

The Giant Buddha Statue's Travel Through the Country
A lost 1934 kaiju film produced by Giant Buddha Movie Factory. It is the first known Japanese film to feature a kaiju-sized character. Though planned as the start of a franchise, no sequels ever manifested. The film itself was likely destroyed by bombing by Allied forces during World War II or carelessness by the studio. The Buddha statue in Shurakuen Park comes to life, rises to his full 33-meter height, and embarks on a journey to save humanity. After passing through tourist attractions in the Chukyo region, the statue flies off to Tokyo. A 1934 magazine article purportedly describes scenes in which the statue "strides over a train," "rests his head on a three-story building," and "makes geisha girls dance on his palm.