A Human Story: Kishōtenketsu

By Katie Lewis

In my house, we love Godzilla. The giant, radioactive lizard that regularly rampages through Tokyo is a regular gift theme.

I’ve also spent the last six months preparing for a workshop I taught last month on Japanese story structure.

Whether you attended my workshop or not, the fact is I’m now obsessed with story mapping any Japanese media I come in contact with.

So, of course, I couldn’t help but do the same with Godzilla Minus One.

Kishotenketsu

Let’s start with a quick rundown of what Japanese story structure means. This East Asian style of storytelling is broken into 4 Acts:

Kiku – Introduction: setting, characters, time period, etc.

Shoku – Development: the story begins to unfold, often in the form of the characters’ day-to-day lives.

Tenku – The Twist: the point where the narrative shifts focus. The story literally changes direction.

Ketsu – Resolution: circles the stories back and ties the two diverging narratives into a cohesive story.

The first two acts should feel familiar. However, a Western audience will begin to feel the difference in the Shoku, or Development, stage. Without the rising action we’re used to, the narrative can sometimes feel meandering, even though it’s not.

Of course, the Twist or Tenku stage is the most significant change. This is NOT an “I see dead people” moment. Rather, it is an event that causes the narrative to take a left turn.

If there is any big conflict or a climax to be had (and there doesn’t have to be in this model of storytelling), then it happens here in the Twist.

That is precisely why Godzilla Minus One is a perfect example of this type of narrative.

Kiku: Introduction

Meet Shikishima, a kamikaze pilot at the very end of World War II. After claiming his plane has mechanical issues, he lands at a base for repairs, only for that base to be attacked by Godzilla, a local village legend.

He and one mechanic, Tachibana, are the only survivors, and Tachibana blames Shikishima for both abandoning his mission and failing to shoot at Godzilla during the attack.

Shortly after, Japan surrenders, and Shikishima returns home to find his parents, and most of his neighbors died in the firebombing of Tokyo.

We’re introduced to the rest of the core cast: his surly neighbor, his three new coworkers, his love interest, Noriko, and the orphaned baby she is trying to raise on her own.

Shoku: Development

Shikishima, Noriko, and their adopted daughter Akiko form a family unit. Shikishima and his coworkers are minesweepers in the waters surrounding Tokyo. The temperamental neighbor woman helps Noriko raise Akiko.

Over two years, Shikishima rebuilds his family’s house, and everyone settles into a healing routine from the war.

Godzilla isn’t absent from this part of the story. In fact, there’s a harrowing battle at sea with him in the middle of this Act. However, he’s really not the main focus.

In a Western story, the giant monster would be the biggest concern.

This isn’t a Western story, however. Even though Godzilla is repeatedly sighted, the focus stays on Shikishima and his life. In particular, this part of the story is focused pretty heavily on his sense of guilt and what is most undoubtedly post-traumatic stress disorder.

He’s been told he failed the country of Japan by not fulfilling his role as a kamikaze pilot (it’s worth remembering that Japan was an undefeated country before World War II). He’s also been told that everyone Godzilla has killed is his fault for not initially trying to stop the monster.

And with every new attack, that body count grows. At this point, the story focuses on how tormented Shikishima feels, no matter how he tries to make up for his failings.

Tenku: The Twist

At the end of those two years, Noriko takes a job in Ginza, a prefecture of Tokyo, only for Godzilla to make landfall and attack. Shikishima attempts to save her but is unsuccessful.

He’s failed again.

The attack on Ginza drives the community to band together to devise a way to defeat Godzilla. More importantly, Noriko’s loss is enough for Shikishima to overcome his fear of facing the monster.

This is the “Twist” because, again, up until this, Godzilla hadn’t really been the point of the story. He’s destroyed a base and several ships at sea, but as I mentioned above, he was more or less left alone. No one in the story had the drive or interest to hunt him down. Or the means, for that matter.

This is Japan right after World War II, don’t forget. Not only are they focused on rebuilding, they don’t have a standing army anymore. Battleships, planes, and all forms of large artillery have been decommissioned.

So, what follows the Ginza attack is basically a Town Hall meeting where a group of private citizens try to come up with a plan to kill Godzilla without the help of any big guns or active government support.

It’s eerily similar to the meeting from Jaws about hunting down the shark, which can feel wild because, up until that point, aside from the brief appearances Godzilla makes, the movie felt like something closer to Downton Abbey.

This is the nature of the Twist. The narrative has now changed from Shikishima and his personal demons to a race to stop Godzilla before he does further damage to Tokyo.

A plan is formed, and Shikishima ropes the mechanic from the beginning, Tachibana, into helping them make an experimental plane flightworthy. They put a bomb in the aircraft, and Shikishima takes on his original role of kamikaze pilot once again, planning to fly directly into Godzilla’s mouth.

Ketsu: Resolution

The plan to kill Godzilla is a success. In the last few moments of the fight, we see a flashback in which Tachibana shows Shikishima that this plane is German-constructed and, therefore, has an ejection seat, which Japanese fighter jets do not.

Shikishima uses this ejection seat, finally accepting he can be forgiven for continuing to live in the wake of so much death. Tachibana is visibly relieved upon hearing the news and has clearly let go of his grudge against Shikishima.

In our final wrap-up, the rest of the core cast congratulates Shikishima on the successful mission, only for his neighbor to meet him at the shipyard with his daughter and a telegram she received.

The resolution completes its full circle mission when Shikishima rushes into a hospital in the final scene to find that Noriko is injured but alive. The three can finally move on from the war and build their own lives guilt-free.

And there we have it. Godzilla Minus One certainly plays out differently from the current run of American Godzilla movies, but that’s a feature, not a bug. I’d love to know what you think about how these two styles of Godzilla movies compare.

Plot without Structure

Kishōtenketsu for Beginners

Kishōtenketsu and Non-Western Story Structures