Operation Wada Tsumi
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We'll kill it with the power of the sea.
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Operation Wada Tsumi (海神作戦 Wadatsumi Sakusen, lit. "Operation Sea God") was a successful civilian-led operation against Godzilla in the 2023 Toho Godzilla film Godzilla Minus One. Formulated by former IJN weapons officer Kenji Noda, the plan utilized barotrauma to injure Godzilla before the monster was defeated by the Shinden exploding inside its mouth.
Name
Operation Wada Tsumi is named after Wadatsumi, a Japanese sea dragon kami, reflecting Godzilla's place of defeat in the sea. It is spaced as "Wada Tsumi" in both the theatrical and Netflix English subtitles.
History
- Godzilla Minus One (2023)
- Godzilla Minus Zero (2026)
Reiwa era
Godzilla Minus One
Following Godzilla's destructive raid on Tokyo's Ginza district, a group of private citizens, including former naval technical officer Kenji Noda, began forming a long-shot plan to defeat the monster. Noda informed his friend, former kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima, about the situation following Noriko Oishi's memorial service. Noda, Shikishima, captain Seiji Akitsu, and Shiro Mizushima attended the private citizens meeting, where many of the attendees were naval veterans. Captain Tatsuo Hotta, who commanded the ship Yukikaze during the war, entered the room and informed them that the Japanese government secured the return of four IJN destroyers: Yukikaze, Hibiki, Yūkaze, and Keyaki. However, all the ships were stripped of their weaponry, and neither the United States nor Japanese government was willing to defeat, or capable of defeating, the monster threatening their country. Thus, the plan depended on the citizens themselves to carry it out. The room became chaotic before Noda went on stage to explain. Noda introduced himself as the drafter of the plan and recalled his experience of witnessing Godzilla take direct gunfire from the Takao but quickly heal himself. He then revealed a wooden model of Godzilla, weighted just enough to float in a tank of seawater. He asked the citizens what would happen if the model was enveloped in Freon gas bubbles. After one citizen answered it would stay afloat, Noda released the gas valve into the tank. The model was surrounded in bubbles and sank to the bottom, surprising the attendees. Noda explained that the bubbles prevented the model from contacting the seawater, with the idea of sinking Godzilla using that method. The scientists closed the blinds of the meeting room and projected a map of Sagami Bay behind the naval engineer, with the idea of sinking Godzilla 1,500 meters to crush him. Noda revealed the plan name as Operation Wada Tsumi. When Akitsu questioned if Godzilla could survive the pressure change, Noda elaborated that even ocean-born creatures wouldn't survive it. After Shikishima asked if the plan would work, Noda responded that, with the unprecedented situation, it was uncertain. Shikishima stood up to leave but Noda pleaded for the pilot to listen. Shikishima sat back down, and Noda explained that they would use two ships to circle Godzilla with a wire of Freon canisters before rupturing them, sinking the monster 1,500 meters into Sagami Bay to induce barotrauma. When Shikishima asked if the plan would fail, Noda assured there was a Plan B. He instructed everyone to look into the courtyard, where Toyo Balloon employees inflated a giant balloon. Akio Itagaki of Toyo Balloon explained that after Godzilla was sunk, they would inflate the balloons around the monster to bring him back to the surface, inducing massive decompression. Hotta told the men that they weren't being forced to participate and would allow them to leave if they wished; while some did leave, most stayed.
At a dock near Sagami Bay, the four destroyers were prepared for the operation. Yukikaze was fitted with a large crane near the stern, with a winch in front of the crane's base and a cable leading to a winch on Hibiki's stern. Two diagonal racks were installed on the rear port and starboard, with seven large Freon canisters on each rack attached to the cable connecting the two ships. The Freon canisters, supplied by Toyo Balloon, were equipped with 46-cm shells and the company's inflatable flotation devices. The private citizens and Toyo Balloon employees worked together to carry supplies aboard the ships. One night, Godzilla was located by radiation-detecting buoys. Noda and the other private citizens held a meeting where the former naval technician commented on Japan's treatment of soldiers during the war. He ordered everyone to spend the night with their families. Mizushima was excited to participate, but Noda and Akitsu told him he wasn't coming. When Mizushima urged his crewmates to take him with them, Akitsu told him that never having gone to war is a badge of pride.
The next morning, Godzilla had arrived at the mainland faster than anticipated, having destroyed the underwater decoy ships sent to lure him to Sagami Bay. Noda ordered the destroyers to leave port anyway, relying entirely on Shikishima to lead the monster out to sea. Shikishima, piloting the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden, located and successfully lured Godzilla to Sagami Bay. Once the monster arrived at the target point, Hotta, in Yukikaze, ordered Yūkaze and Keyaki to speed towards Godzilla. Unbeknownst to the monster, both were uncrewed. Godzilla expended his atomic breath on the harmless ships, leaving him unable to use it again while he regenerated from his self-inflicted wounds. After enduring the massive waves kicked up by the monster's attack, one of the citizens aboard Yukikaze pleaded for Noda to retreat. Noda reassured that the plan could be executed before Hotta ordered to commence the operation. Yukikaze and Hibiki encircled Godzilla and wrapped the cable attached to the Freon canisters around him while Shikishima continued to distract the monster. The ships scraped against each other so Yukikaze's crane could pass over Hibiki, allowing the ships to complete the circle. As Godzilla prepared to fire his heat ray again, the 46-cm shells were detonated, creating an air cavity below the monster. Immediately after, the Freon canisters were ruptured, enveloping the beast in bubbles and forcibly sinking him underwater.
Upon surpassing the target depth of 1,500 meters, Godzilla froze in place and stopped charging his ray but withstood the crushing change in pressure. Noda then ordered the balloons attached to the canisters to be inflated under him, rapidly drawing the monster to the surface. When Godzilla tore through the balloons, Hotta ordered Yukikaze and Hibiki to pull Godzilla the rest of the way themselves, but the monster's weight proved too great, causing Yukikaze's crane to collapse. The plan seemed hopeless until a fleet of tugboats, led by Mizushima, arrived to help the destroyers. The tugboats tied ropes on the bow of each destroyer and pulled, rising the kaiju. Upon surfacing, Godzilla appeared heavily mutilated, having suffered critical damage to his body from decompression, but was still alive. Noda and the others accepted their deaths as an enraged Godzilla coursed with power and prepared to unleash his atomic breath. Shikishima interceded, flying his plane into Godzilla's mouth and ejecting just before it exploded. The smoke cleared moments later, revealing that the top of Godzilla's head had been destroyed, after which the accumulated atomic energy overloaded, causing the rest of his body to crumble. Spontaneously, the crews of all the ships saluted. They returned to port to find a jubilant crowd waiting.
Involved parties
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Weapons and vehicles
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Gallery
Screenshots
Godzilla Minus One
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Kenji Noda demonstrating the sinking effect of Freon gas in seawater -
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Private citizens loading supplies onto Yukikaze -
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Yukikaze, Hibiki, Yūkaze, and Keyaki sailing toward Sagami Bay -
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Yūkaze and Keyaki sailing together toward Godzilla -
Yūkaze and Keyaki exploding from Godzilla's atomic breath in front of Yukikaze and Hibiki -
Freon canisters deploying off Yukikaze's stern -
Yukikaze and Hibiki sailing toward Godzilla -
Shikishima shooting Godzilla in the Shinden -
Yukikaze and Hibiki colliding -
Yukikaze's crane sweeping over Hibiki as the ships pass each other -
The 46-cm shells detonating -
The Freon tanks rupturing -
Godzilla sinking into the Sagami Trench -
Yukikaze's depth gauge surpassing the target depth -
Godzilla at 1,500 meters below sea level -
Tugboats helping Yukikaze and Hibiki pull Godzilla to the surface -
Noda and Akitsu accepting their fate -
The Shinden exploding inside Godzilla's mouth -
Godzilla's body crumbling into the sea
Godzilla Minus Zero
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A United States B-29 Superfortress overflying Sagami Bay immediately after Operation Wada Tsumi's success
Comments
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