Kyohei Yamane
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Dr. Kyohei Yamane (山根恭平博士 Yamane Kyōhei-hakase) is a main character in the 1954 Godzilla film Godzilla. Yamane later reappeared in a minor role in the sequel Godzilla Raids Again.
History
Showa era
Godzilla
Following the devastation of the Odo Island village, Yamane was invited to a special session of the Diet to hear accounts by survivors and give his thoughts. He recommended a investigative party be sent to the island, and subsequently headed the party. On Odo Island his team discovered that areas in the wake of the destruction had been exposed to massive but strangely-precise radiation; these areas had been pounded with a trail of holes in the ground, which Yamane identified as footprints of a large creature. In one of these footprints he also discovered a well-preserved trilobite. The investigation was interrupted by the sudden reappearance of the creature beyond a hill. Yamane took several photographs before fleeing with the islanders; the creature soon retreated into the ocean, leaving a new trail of footprints.
Immediately upon the return of the investigative party another Diet session was held, at which Dr. Yamane presented his findings, including the trilobite and sediment from the footprints dense in Strontium-90, a byproduct of hydrogen bombs. Yamane identified the creature as a prehistoric, semi-aquatic reptile, intermediary between land and sea reptiles, from the Jurassic period, based on carbon-dating the sediment and named it "Godzilla," in accordance with an Odo Island legend. He concluded that modern atomic tests had awoken the creature, and that in having survived exposure to atomic weapons, it would be extremely difficult to subdue.
Yamane was consulted by the government and the military for the duration of the crisis, though his personal conviction was that Godzilla, the only known survivor of the atomic bomb and therefore a wealth of knowledge (and hope for a cure to radiation sickness), should be extensively studied while alive. Following the destruction of Godzilla by the Oxygen Destroyer, Yamane expressed concern that further atomic testing may awaken another Godzilla in the future.
Godzilla Raids Again
Dr. Yamane was summoned by the Japanese government to offer advice on how to deal with Godzilla after two pilots had reported seeing a second Godzilla and the monster Anguirus on a deserted island. Yamane regretfully stated that there was no known way to stop Godzilla following Dr. Serizawa's death, but offered advice that Godzilla was enraged by light, which reminded him of the atomic bomb, so he could be repelled from Osaka by keeping the city in darkness and luring him out to sea using flares.
Heisei era
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
Dr. Yamane does not physically appear in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, and is implied to have passed away long before the film's events, however he is mentioned several times and is seen in a photograph with his adopted son, Shinkichi. Emiko still lives in her father's house, and Dr. Yamane's office is shown in the film as well, and still looks identical to how it did 40 years ago.
Filmography
- Godzilla (1954)
- Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
- Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) [mentioned / photograph]
- Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) [photograph]
Video games
- CinemaScope Adventure: Godzilla (1984) - NEC PC-8801 and Fujitsu FM-7
Books
GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse
A biology professor, Dr. Yamane led the investigation into the carcass of a Kamoebas that washed ashore on Odo Island in 2030. Yamane believed the corpse was evidence for the existence of a larger more powerful monster, which he named Godzilla after a dragon that existed in the islanders' folklore. Yamane's hypothesis would be proven correct when Godzilla landed on the west coast of the United States later that year.[1]
Family tree
| Kyohei Yamane | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Emiko Yamane | Shinkichi Yamane | Masaji Yamada | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kenkichi Yamane | Yukari Yamane | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gallery
Yamane with glasses
Yamane mourning the loss of his future son-in-law and colleague Dr. Serizawa
Yamane in Godzilla Raids Again
A protrait of Dr. Kyohei Yamane and his adopted son, Shinkichi Yamane, in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
References
This is a list of references for Kyohei Yamane. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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