In late December of 2025 I traveled to Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan, to pick up my father. To my dismay, the flight’s arrival time was delayed. I walked away from international arrivals area towards the nearest bathroom, only to discover a surprise: a giant statue of Godzilla from Godzilla Minus One (2023)!

I had heard rumblings of a large Godzilla statue in Haneda airport based off of the 1954 incarnation, but this had caught me off guard. It was positioned in such a location that anyone searching for the bathrooms—or just a place to rest, would inevitably come across it.

Many people, both Japanese and what I believe to be international travelers, made small comments about it when they passed by. They took photos and some even posed dramatically in front of it. I saw two small kids gleefully shout out when they recognized Godzilla, who proceeded to usher their parents towards it, who in turn seemed very impressed by it. It was a great first memory for their trip in Japan!

I don’t like making assumptions about all these people, but I don’t think everyone who was enthralled by the Minus One Godzilla statue was a genre enthusiast. I say this not as a judgement, but as recognition to how genius of an advertising move this was.

I was then surprised by what was on the opposite side of the Godzilla statue, a mobile shop. What immediately stood out to me was the promotion they were running; E-sims that came with Godzilla-themed stickers. The design of the stickers, which unfortunately I’m unsure if they were digital or physical, were rather plain: just Shin Godzilla posed in front of a rendition of Mt. Fuji. While not of particular use to me, I was surprised that they were going so heavy on the Godzilla promotions.

At this point, I recall checking the arrivals board and seeing that while my father’s plane had landed, it was stuck taxiing. Even after that, he’d have to go through immigration and pick up his luggage. I had time to kill, and seeing so much Godzilla-themed stuff in close proximity made me wonder if there were other Godzilla-related things around.

I made my pilgrimage upstairs to the international departures section where the 1954 statue was supposed to be located. To my surprise, I located another Godzilla easter-egg on my way there: a wonderful wrap-around mural of Godzilla and a plethora of other monsters like King Ghidorah and Destoroyah. This left more of an impact on me as the choices of monsters were filled with relative deep cuts: Titanosaurus, Little Godzilla, and the Super X!

I stopped here for a few minutes, trying to get photos of all the different angles and monsters. Unlike the E-sim promotion, this wasn’t an advertisement for a product, it was purely there for aesthetic reasons. This made me realize that the airport had been transformed into a celebration of Godzilla. To my knowledge this has not been officially announced, and I wonder how many other little Godzilla promos I missed during my time there.

Then I saw it, the giant first-generation Godzilla statue. It’s only the head and back of the 1954 Godzilla, but it’s still a rather impressive bust. Perhaps I’m overthinking things, but the positioning of the spines and their coloration are reminiscent of Hokusai’s Great Wave off Kanagawa, a print that various Japanese media loves to reference. I was impressed by its size, and its location. It was right above the Edo Market, one of the last big opportunities to buy Japanese things, but also unavoidable due to being positioned over the gate to international departures.

I have to be blunt here: it was a bit creepy! It wasn’t scary, but it is an odd choice to have a façade of a literal monster glaring down at you before a long international flight. Yes, it’s Godzilla, and Godzilla is cool— but this is the same Godzilla that trashed Tokyo! Look at all those giant teeth! The fact that its spines are lighting up blue should be worrying! Still, I loved seeing it in person, and any Godzilla fan traveling through Haneda should be able to see it and the other Godzilla easter-eggs they’ve set up around the airport.

The statue is eye-catching, nigh unavoidable. I saw tons of small throngs of people taking photos of it from the check-in stalls nearby. Likewise, as I approached it, I heard many other people comment on it. For many people, this will be one of the last things they see when they depart from Japan. It’ll leave an impression for sure, and I’ve already seen many non-Godzilla fans on various social media sites comment on it.

But one question remains: why Haneda? Why is there a giant Godzilla bust in an airport?

Well, for promoting Godzilla of course. But before we dive into that, let’s acknowledge the history of the airport throughout Toho films.

Haneda Airport has appeared in many Toho productions such as Varan (1958), The War of the Gargauntuas (1966), and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). It’s even the airport Ichiro departs to Monster Island from in All Monsters Attack (1969)!  Haneda airport also has appeared in many other non-Godzilla films such as Gamera: Attack of the Legion (1997). While not the most frequent appearing location in the franchise, it’s definitely been a place that Japanese media has put a spotlight on.

That spotlight isn’t undeserved; like other parts of Japan, Haneda Airport has some interesting history behind it. According to some quick research, the airport was originally an airfield used primarily by the Empire of Japan to deliver military supplies throughout Asia. After World War 2 during the occupation of Japan, Haneda was taken over by Douglas McArthur and became an American airbase. Later, after the end of the American occupation, the airport began gradually expanding before taking on international flights.

Then, around the time of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Tokyo Monorail was constructed which conveniently connected it to Tokyo. While it lost some of its international flights when Narita Airport was opened in 1978, Haneda Airport has always remained an important airport for Japan for both domestic and international travel. Similar to other post-war accomplishments, such as Tokyo Tower and the 1964 Olympics, Haneda Airport encapsulates Japan’s revitalization and image change following the great war.

But still, why all this fanfare now? I may be stating the obvious here, but Toho has made a genius marketing move. While Godzilla attractions have already existed in Japan for a while, not many are so easily accessible for international—or even local—travelers. However, because the proximity to people traveling, there’s a high chance that tens of thousands of people are encountering Godzilla daily at this airport. And, because of the location of the Minus One Godzilla statue near the international arrivals section and the first-generation Godzilla looking over the departures area, there is a very realistic possibility that for many people, Godzilla will be one of the first, and last, things they see in Japan. Add in the fact that the Godzilla-hotel bust in Shinjuku is a bonafide-landmark and you’ve created a situation where Godzilla is nearly omnipresent in Tokyo. Genius!

Thankfully, my father was finally able to get off his plane and meet up with me. The first thing he did was have to stretch his legs in the waiting area. As I predicted, he saw the Minus One statue and was surprised! One of the first photos I took of him on his trip was a photo of us together in front of the statue. One of my earliest memories in my life was watching Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) with my father. Now that he had traveled all the way here to see me and my family, something about the encounter felt very karmatic.

Pure speculation on my end, but given the amount of heavy promotion Godzilla got at Haneda Airport I wonder if there’s any chance it might be used as a location in a film entry in the near future. Perhaps Haneda Airport will appear in Godzilla Minus Zero this November? Either way, it’ll be cool seeing Godzilla and Haneda Airport share the same space, be it in person or on the big screen!