Rubber-Suit Monsters Fade. Tiny Tokyos Relax.
But now, in an era when lifelike digital effects have made the use of small models and suited actors look quaint and kitschy, tokusatsu is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. The last Godzilla movie shot in this style, the aptly named “Godzilla Final Wars,” was released almost a decade ago, after a half-century span during which the creature appeared in 28 films, sometimes every year.
Only two companies still use tokusatsu effects: Tsuburaya Productions, maker of Ultraman, and Toei, which produces “Kamen Rider” and “Super Sentai” (known in the United States as Power Rangers). All are low-budget television series for children that feature oversize superheroes. Tsuburaya also makes movies, with its newest film, “Ultraman Ginga,” to be released this month in Japan.
Now, when Hollywood makes tokusatsu-inspired films — like this summer’s “Pacific Rim,” with its giant robots, or a coming Godzilla movie — it relies on flashy computer graphics.
“One day, we looked around and realized that almost no one is making tokusatsu anymore,” said Shinji Higuchi, one of a handful of Japanese directors who still have experience in the genre, having directed three movies in the 1990s featuring the giant fire-breathing turtle Gamera. “We don’t want this technique to just quietly disappear without at least recognizing how indebted we are to it.”
In response, Mr. Higuchi is trying to, if not revive tokusatsu, at least chronicle it for younger generations. Last year, he helped organize the Tokusatsu Special Effects Museum, a traveling exhibition that presents the history of tokusatsu, going back to its origins in World War II-era propaganda films with flying model airplanes so realistic that American intelligence officers thought the films were actual combat footage