Kyohei Yamane

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Kyohei Yamane
Kyohei Yamane
Species Human
Nationality Japanese
Occupation Paleontologist, Biology ProfessorGMA
Related to Emiko Yamane (Daughter),
Shinkichi Yamane (Adoptive son),
Kenichi Yamane (Adoptive grandson),
Yukari Yamane (Adoptive granddaughter)
First appearance Latest appearance
Godzilla (1954) Godzilla Raids Again
Played by Takashi Shimura

Dr. Kyohei Yamane (山根恭平博士,   Yamane Kyōhei-hakase) is a main character in the 1954 Godzilla film Godzilla. Yamane later returns in a minor role in the sequel Godzilla Raids Again.

History

Showa Series

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. Yamane had no role outside of this, so his appearance was little more than a cameo.

Heisei Series

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.

Family

Kyohei Yamane fathered one biological child, his daughter Emiko, who at the time of Godzilla's first appearance was betrothed to Dr. Daisuke Serizawa.

During the investigation of Odo Island, Dr. Yamane visited the grave of Masaji Yamada and his mother, victims of Godzilla's raid, and met Masaji's younger brother Shinkichi. Yamane later adopted Shinkichi as a son. Shinkichi Yamane later had two children, Kenichi and Yukari, who played integral roles in the events preceding Godzilla's meltdown in 1996.

Portrayal

Dr. Yamane was portrayed in both Japanese film appearances by Takashi Shimura, a veteran Toho actor and favorite of Kurosawa. In the Jewell Enterprises Americanization, Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, Yamane was portrayed in scenes with Raymond Burr by an unidentified actor and dubbed in several scenes by an unidentified voice actor.

Filmography

Video Games

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]

Gallery

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]

  1. Renji Ōki (October 25, 2017). GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse. Kadokawa. pp. 112–150.

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