Toyo Balloon
Toyo Balloon (東洋バルーン Tōyō Barūn) is a fictional Japanese company specialized in producing inflatable flotation devices featured in the 2023 Toho Godzilla film Godzilla Minus One. The company and its employees played a crucial role in the defeat of Godzilla before and during Operation Wada Tsumi.
Name
The word "Tōyō" translates to "oriental", generally meaning "eastern". In English, it is largely a metonym for the continent of Asia, but has evolved and expanded to include Central Asia, Southwest Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, or the Far East, including Japan.[1]
History
- Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Reiwa era
Godzilla Minus One
Following Godzilla's destructive raid on Tokyo's Ginza district, the Japanese government secured the return of four IJN destroyers as part of a desperate civilian-led plan to destroy the monster in Sagami Bay, dubbed Operation Wada Tsumi. During the meeting where former naval engineer Kenji Noda explained the plan, Toyo Balloon employees dramatically demonstrated the inflation of one of their balloons in the courtyard of the building. Toyo Balloon employee and engineer Akio Itagaki introduced himself and explained that the flotation device was like the kind used in navy aircraft, with CO2 shot in air sacs for buoyancy, like a life preserver. Itagaki told them that once Godzilla sunk 1,500 meters into the Sagami trench, the balloons would be inflated around him, rapidly drawing the monster to the surface. Noda elaborated that if Godzilla could survive the pressure change, he would have to contend with massive decompression.
At a dock near Sagami Bay, Toyo Balloon and its employees supplied the Freon canisters, attached with the inflatable flotation devices and 46-cm shells, for the operation. The destroyer 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.
When Godzilla arrived at the mainland faster than anticipated, Noda ordered the destroyers to set sail anyway, relying entirely on Koichi Shikishima, one of Noda's crewmates aboard the minesweeper Shinseimaru, to lead the monster out to sea. While Shikishima lured Godzilla to Sagami Bay in the Shinden, the Toyo Balloon employees readied the Freon canisters before the operation began. After the canisters were ruptured and Godzilla was sunk, the company's balloons were inflated to rise the monster back to the surface, only to be torn through. Fortunately, the plan succeeded with the assistance of Shiro Mizushima leading a fleet of tugboats to help the destroyers pull Godzilla up and Shikishima crashing the Shinden into Godzilla's mouth.
Notable members
- Akio Itagaki (corporate president, employee, and engineer)
Books
Gallery
Merchandise
Clothing
Cospa Toyo Balloon employee jacket
Cospa Toyo Balloon t-shirts
Miscellaneous
Cospa Toyo Balloon tote bag
Cospa Toyo Balloon stainless steel mug
Cospa Godzilla Minus One stickers
Dream Planet Japan Toyo Balloon neck pillow
References
This is a list of references for Toyo Balloon. 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]
Comments
Showing 1 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.
|
|
|
