Kaiju is a term used in film and media for a subgenre of monster films produced in Japan known as kaiju eiga, also serving as a subgenre of tokusatsu. Similar to its Western counterpart, kaiju eiga usually depict creatures of varying origins and sizes attacking cities or towns, usually in Japan, and battling the Japan Self-Defense Forces, other monsters, or both. Unlike Western monster films, kaiju eiga have often incorporated social and political commentary that reflected the times. While not the first monster film or character, the 1954 film Godzilla is often credited for pioneering the kaiju subgenre, and establishing the template, largely thanks to effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, for tokusatsu that would go on to affect Japan's film industry.

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