Yasuaki Shindo
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Yasuaki Shindo (新堂 靖明 Shindō Yasuaki) is a character in the 1991 Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.
History
Heisei era
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
During World War II, Yasuaki Shindo was a major in the Japanese army and was in charge of the Lagos Island garrison in the Marshall Islands. In 1944, the Japanese garrisons on the neighboring islands of Loat and Kwajalein were wiped out by the invading American forces, having fought to the very last man. The American Navy soon approached the island and began bombarding it with artillery shells, while landing forces began coming ashore. The remaining Japanese soldiers in the garrison retreated to a cave on the island, with many assuming their defeat was assured. Shindo convinced his men to lead one last desperate charge against the American forces in the morning, stating that they must fight for their country to the last breath like the other garrisons that fell before them. When the sun rose the next morning, Shindo led his men in a charge against the American soldiers. Badly outnumbered, many of Shindo's men were gunned down, as it appeared their charge would be short-lived. Suddenly, a huge dinosaur emerged from the jungle, startling the American soldiers and causing them to open fire on it. The dinosaur retaliated and trampled many of the Americans, then chased the survivors to the shore. Shindo watched in amazement as the dinosaur withstood repeated blasts from the Americans' artillery and wiped out all of their landing forces. Wounded, the dinosaur returned to the jungle as the American Navy pulled back from the island. Sometime later, Shindo and his garrison found the dinosaur lying on the jungle floor, seemingly dying of its wounds. Shindo thanked the dinosaur for saving the lives of him and his garrison, and expressed his regret that they could not bring it with them. With tears in his eyes, Shindo expressed his wish that the dinosaur's wounds would heal, and ordered his men to salute it before marching off.
In the decades following the close of World War II, Shindo became a successful businessman, founding his own massive corporation known as the Teiyo Group. The company secretly constructed a nuclear submarine and kept it docked offshore outside of Japanese waters. In 1992, investigative reporter Kenichiro Terasawa became intrigued of some soldiers' accounts of the dinosaur on Lagos Island and discovered that Shindo himself was present there. Terasawa and paleontologist Professor Mizaki arranged a meeting with Shindo, who was a known dinosaur enthusiast, to discuss the possibility of dinosaurs surviving to the modern day. Shindo laughed at Terasawa's question asking if he had ever seen a live dinosaur, but became silent when Terasawa brought up Lagos Island. Shindo told the story of the dinosaur to Terasawa and even provided him with a photograph of it. The photograph seemed to confirm Terasawa's theory that the dinosaur on Lagos was exposed to nuclear radiation and transformed into Godzilla. A group of time-travelers from the year 2204 arrived in 1992 Japan and expressed interest in Terasawa's theory and Shindo's account, claiming that they could prevent Godzilla's creation and avoid a catastrophic future where Japan is completely destroyed by Godzilla. The Futurians, along with Terasawa, Mizaki and Miki Saegusa, embarked on an expedition to 1944 Lagos Island in their time machine KIDS, where they witnessed the battle between Shindo's garrison and the American forces, as well as the appearance of the dinosaur. After Shindo and his garrison had bid farewell to the dinosaur, Futurian Emmy Kano and the android M11 used KIDS to teleport the wounded dinosaur to the Bering Sea, where they believed it would die far away from the nuclear testing of the 1950's. Secretly though, Emmy left behind three genetically-engineered creatures called Dorats on the island.
Back in modern-day Japan, a giant three-headed dragon called King Ghidorah suddenly appeared. The monster was actually the result of the Dorats being exposed to the 1954 Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test and merging together, and was completely under the control of the Futurians, who intended to force Japan to surrender to them and prevent it from becoming a corrupt economic superpower by the 23rd century. According to Emmy, Shindo's Teiyo Group had become one of the largest corporations in the world by that time. King Ghidorah attacked Fukuoka, where Shindo witnessed the creature's attack from the observation deck of the Fukuoka Tower. King Ghidorah flew over the tower, shattering the glass on the deck and injuring Shindo. Shindo angrily declared that he would rebuild all that the monster had destroyed. Desperate to stop King Ghidorah and his masters, the Japanese government developed a plan to irradiate the dinosaur they assumed was still dormant in the Bering Sea and transform it into a new Godzilla. Shindo offered his assistance, revealing the existence of his company's secret nuclear submarine. Shindo proposed that the submarine could be sent to the Bering Sea and blast the dinosaur with its nuclear torpedoes, hopefully transforming it into Godzilla. Though the government officials opposed Shindo's illegal possession of nuclear weapons, they agreed and allowed the sub to be deployed to the Bering Sea. En route, the submarine encountered Godzilla himself, who was never erased from history at all. Godzilla fed on and destroyed the sub, absorbing its power and curing his ANEB infection. Shindo was distressed upon receiving a phone call notifying him that his submarine sank, but was overjoyed when the revitalized Godzilla surfaced in Hokkaido, believing his "savior" had finally come back to defend Japan. After Godzilla defeated King Ghidorah and destroyed the Futurians, the monster merely continued his rampage, attacking the city of Sapporo on his way to Tokyo.
As Godzilla approached Tokyo, the city was evacuated. Shindo, however, remained in his office in Shinjuku. Ryuzo Dobashi, a member of the Japanese Cabinet, contacted Shindo and told him to evacuate immediately. Shindo simply pointed out how ironic it was that he was rescued by a dinosaur all those years ago, allowing him to build a prosperous business, only for that same dinosaur to destroy his very prosperity in front of him. Shindo then remarked that he deserved to die, and asked to be allowed to do so before hanging up the phone. Shindo walked to a window and looked outside of his office, where Godzilla was standing. Shindo looked sadly into Godzilla's eyes, remembering when he had last seen the dinosaur that became Godzilla on the island nearly half a century ago. Godzilla appeared to remember as well, and ceased his rampage to stare back at Shindo. With tears in his eyes, Shindo silently nodded, as if asking Godzilla to kill him. Godzilla roared mournfully before blasting the building in front of him with his atomic breath, killing Shindo.
Gallery
Shindo discussing his company's secret nuclear submarine
Godzilla about to kill Mr. Shindo
Trivia
- Yasuaki Shindo was the final role of actor Yoshio Tsuchiya in the Godzilla series.
Comments
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