Kaiju

Kaiju is a subgenre of Japanese monster fiction, closely associated with the kaiju eiga (monster film) tradition, in which creatures of enormous size attack cities and battle military forces or other monsters. The term itself translates literally as strange beast. Unlike many Western monster stories, kaiju works have often carried social and political commentary reflecting the anxieties of their era. The 1954 film Godzilla is widely credited with establishing the genre's template, staging giant-scale destruction with actors in monster suits and miniature city sets, a technique that came to be called suitmation, though giant monster films in Japan date back to the 1930s. Well known kaiju besides Godzilla include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Gamera.