Episode 7: Half Human (Mini-Analysis)

(Originally published Dec. 25, 2019).

Merry Christmas, kaiju lovers!

As part of Nathan’s continuing series on films covered in his absence on Kaijuvision Radio, this mini-sode examines Ishiro Honda’s 1955 film Half Human, which is infamous for being banned by Toho. Heck, it was stashed so far back in the Island’s film vault, it took Goji-kun and Bro Kong (the podcast mascots and possibly Godzilla and Kong’s “little” brothers) a long time to find it for Nathan to watch. Strange as it may sound, it’s serendipitous that this episode was released on Christmas Day because the film takes place partly on New Year’s Day. It follows a group of scientists and students investigating the appearance of the Abominable Snowman in the Japanese Alps, where they encounter a savage tribe who worships the Snowman. Nathan’s analysis focuses on the natives, their parallels to the Ainu (Japan’s indigenous people), and how this portrayal got the film banned. He argues that, despite possible insensitivities, Half Human is unfairly censored and deserves to be viewed by a wider audience.

All this plus our first listener feedback letters and the Monster Island Christmas party—wherein Nathan learns that kaiju can sing Christmas carols (or so his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, tells him even though he hasn’t fixed the ORCA yet).

Here’s the Kaijuvision Radio episode on the film: Episode 38: Half Human (1955) (Genetic Origin of the Ainu People).

This episode featured “We Three Kings” by Jay Man (OurMusicBox on YouTube).

See you in 2020, listeners!

© 2019 Nathan Marchand & Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading
• “Ainu people” (Wikipedia)
• “The Ainu of Japan: an indigenous people or an ethnic group?” by Kaori Tahara (Public Archeology, vol. 4, no. 2-3).
• “The Ainu People” (Ainu Museum; website now closed)
• “The Ainu: Reviving the Indigenous Spirit of Japan” by Sarah W. with art by Aya Francisco (Tofugu)
• “Half Human (1955) Kaiju Film Review” (YouTube) by Adam Noyes of AN Productions
• Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godzisewski
• Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda by Peter H. Brothers
• “The Untold Story of Japan’s First People” by Jude Isabella (Sapiens)
• “Who are the indigenous Ainu people of Japan?” by Isabella Steger (Quartz)