Godzilla: From Odo Island to Tokyo Station

Odo is the legend-haunted island where the film's trouble begins. One stormy night something heavy comes ashore, wrecking houses and killing villagers and livestock. The island is invented, and the village scenes were shot at Ijika, a fishing and diving community in Toba, Mie. Ijika is not an island at all, yet about 300 residents, a quarter of the town, played extras in their everyday work clothes. Ogi no Hama, where the giant footprints were made, still looks much as it did on the shoot.

Location precision: The island of Odo is invented; the pin marks Ijika in Toba, where its scenes were filmed.

Godzilla's first strike on the capital. He lands from the pier at Shinagawa, then wrecks the train yard and the Keikyu overpass at Yatsuyama Bridge before sliding back into Tokyo Bay. The fleeing-crowd scenes were shot on Yatsuyama Bridge itself, so you can stand where the extras ran.

Visitor guidance: Yatsuyama Bridge is open to the public in Shinagawa.

Godzilla marches into Ginza and flattens the Matsuzakaya store, Wako, the Nippon Gekijo theatre and the Diet. The most remembered shot is the Wako clock tower going down. Wako was furious and reportedly refused Toho any location use for about two years. The Ginza extras were filmed in the middle of the night.

Visitor guidance: Wako is a store at the Ginza 4-chome crossing.

Shin Godzilla opens on Tokyo Bay. An empty pleasure boat with a folded paper crane is found off Haneda, then steam erupts and vehicles in the Aqua-Tunnel are swept up in sudden flooding. The government first blames an undersea volcano or a hydrothermal vent. The pin marks the Aqua-Line, not a specific spot inside the tunnel.

Location precision: The film does not locate the flooding inside the tunnel; the pin marks the Aqua-Line.

The creature goes up the Nomi River and lands at Kamata, scattering moored ships and wrecking cars and buildings on its way. A large crowd shoot was held in front of Kamata station on 6 September 2015.

Location precision: The pin marks Kamata station area; the landing was along the Nomi River.

Near the Kitashinagawa landing stage the creature mutates fast, grows larger and starts walking upright towards Yatsuyama Bridge. Attack helicopters reach position, but fleeing residents are spotted in the line of fire and the attack is called off. It is the same corner of Shinagawa as the 1954 film.

Location precision: The film names the Kitashinagawa landing stage without a precise spot; the pin marks the district.

Four days later a bigger Godzilla appears in Sagami Bay and lands again near Inamuragasaki in Kamakura. The tourist city cooperated with the shoot. It was the first time a Toho monster attacked Kamakura.

Location precision: The film says Inamuragasaki; the exact landing spot is not given.

Here the army draws its absolute defence line along the Tama River and launches Operation Tabaru. Location scouting settled on the area around Maruko Bridge, and the command post is set at Tama Sengen Shrine. Godzilla wrecks the bridge and flips its girders up. The film shows the bridge itself, but the exact positions of the fighting are not documented.

Visitor guidance: A public road bridge over the Tama River.

The final operation, Yashiori, is staged at Tokyo Station, chosen because the makers could think of no other landmark besides Tokyo Tower. The command post sits on the Science Museum roof in Kudan. Tokyo Station does not actually lie in front of it; the shot was composed for looks. The film ends with Godzilla frozen beside the station.

Visitor guidance: Tokyo Station is a working station you can visit freely.