Arts & Culture Dec. 17, 2010 - 06:31AM JST ( 3 )

TOKYO —

Written by American Armand Vaquer, “The Monster Movie Fan’s Guide To Japan” is the world’s first and only Japan travel guide especially tailored to tourists who are also fans of Japanese science-fiction and fantasy movies.  Most of the locations covered in the book are primarily from Toho’s Godzilla series of movies, but other studios’ monster movies are also covered.

Toho started the giant monster movie genre in 1954 with “Godzilla.” Locations used include the Wako Department Store in Ginza, Kachidoki Bridge on the Sumida River and the Diet building. These and other Tokyo locations are covered in the guide. Also included are Ultraman-related places of interest.

The guide starts north with Hokkaido and makes its way down the main island of Honshu and finishes off in Kyushu.

Japan Today catches up with Vaquer to hear more.

What is your background?

I was born in Los Angeles in 1954, the same year that Godzilla was “born” in Japan. Within a month after graduating from Long Beach State, I joined United Pacific/Reliance Insurance Companies as a claims adjuster. Currently, I am a field liability insurance claims examiner.

When did you first become aware of Japanese science fiction and fantasy?

In 1962, KHJ-TV Channel 9 in Los Angeles was showing “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (the Raymond Burr version) and I asked my mom what Godzilla was. She told me he’s a giant dinosaur, so I watched the movie and became hooked.  I later saw “Rodan” and “Mothra” and those movies fed my addiction. Then, in 1963, “King Kong vs Godzilla” hit the theaters in the U.S. and my parents took my friends and I to see it. I loved the special effects and I thought Japan was captivating. I also took an Asian Studies class in my senior year in high school. Godzilla steered me into Japanese culture in general.

How did the idea to write “The Monster Movie Fan’s Guide To Japan” come about?

I wrote a series of “spotlight” articles on Japanese science-fiction and fantasy movie locations for G-FAN magazine (North America’s quarterly fan magazine on Japanese science-fiction) for about seven years. In 2007, I got laid off from my job and was bored. So I got the idea to “recycle” my location spotlight articles for a travel guide to those locations. I re-wrote them and added details on how to get to them, where to stay and what other attractions are nearby. I wrote more location articles to add to the book. It took about three and a half months to write it up. 

What were your sources?

A lot of it was from personal knowledge. I would watch a movie and take note of the locations used and research them online and through books on Japan, including other travel guides. Before writing the book, I made five trips to Japan (2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) and did more research while there. I try to go to different places each time I go. Most of the photos in the book are those I took while visiting the locations.

Was there any copyright trouble over the content of your book?  Toho is very protective of how Godzilla’s image is used.

No. The guide only discusses the locations used in the movies and since it is educational in content and no movie stills or any other Toho-generated stills were used, it falls under the U.S. Fair Use laws. I gave a copy to a friend who used to be the general manager of Toho’s Los Angeles office. He was involved a lot of litigation involving copyright infringement cases with Toho’s characters while general manager in LA and he was impressed with the way it turned out. I always consulted Toho in the past to make sure they’d have no problem with anything I did and they have been very cooperative. Additionally, to be on the safe side, I included a disclaimer in the book stating that Godzilla and related characters are Toho’s copyrights and trademarks.
 
How well did the book sell this year?

Very well. I just received a third shipment of copies for direct sales. ComiXpress (the publisher) also sells it through their website. Kinokuniya Bookstores’ Los Angeles (Little Tokyo) store is carrying it. I did get a late start on promoting it as my mother became very ill during the end of 2009 and passed away three days after the book became live in January 2010.

Do you think many readers actually planned their trip to Japan based on your book?

That’s hard to say. I remember back in March, two Australian college professors requested my book for their upcoming trip to Japan in early April to do some Godzilla-related research. One of them sent me a photo of himself at the Godzilla statue in Hibiya with the book. They said it was a great asset for their Japan trip. Others have said that they’d be using my book in planning future vacation trips.

What sort of feedback did you get from readers?

“Awesome” and “great” have been the terms most used. I’ve been very pleased and humbled by the reaction. A Maryland-based horror host, Karlos Borloff of “Monster Madhouse,” produced a promo video for the book from his show that’s now on YouTube. 

Do you have any plans to have your book translated into Japanese?

A friend, who lives in Japan, thinks it should and said he’ll make queries. Other than that, no plans as yet. It would be interesting to see if there are Japanese monster fans interested in it.

What were you doing on your most recent trip to Japan?

I was talking to book dealers and distributors and media people. Also, I ran around Tokyo doing more research and photography for a possible updated version of the travel guide. I divided my time between Tokyo and Niigata on this trip. 

What’s next for you?

Right now, I am just promoting this book and writing for three blogs. Those keep me busy in my spare time hours. Whenever I can, I also help Peter H. Brothers in promoting his biography/filmography on Godzilla director Ishiro Honda, “Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda.” There are other Americans with book plans. The Godzilla (or “kaiju”) fandom is relatively small in comparison to other genre fandoms such as “Star Trek,” “Star Wars” and anime.

The way I see it, one should specialize in an aspect of a genre that others aren’t doing. Mine is on locations. I’ve been fascinated by movie and television locations as they provide a “snapshot” of a place that likely changed over the years since a movie or television show was produced. A lot of them still look recognizable today and people do like to visit those places. People are fascinated by “then and now” comparisons of movie locations, I have found.