Suicide is a snowball rolled in hell.

For a time, Godzilla lived in the active volcano of Mount Mihara, on Oshima Island. Like some suicides, Godzilla did not have many friends. He had enemies instead, including the Japanese government, which imprisoned him there in 1984.[1] Godzilla did not make Mount Mihara famous, however. This distinction goes to a 24-year old named Meiko Ukei.

In January 1933 she climbed to the top with 21-year old Masako Tomita. Meiko “announced to her friend that she intended to throw herself into the volcano. She would, she explained, be cremated instantly and sent heavenward in smoke and beauty.” The lava reaches 2,200 °F. She swore Masako to secrecy. Meiko jumped. But this kind of secret is difficult to keep. Masako told another friend.

In February, they climbed together to the top of Mihara. The friend jumped as well. Masako returned home and this time word spread. In April, six people leapt into the volcano, and twenty-five others were physically restrained.

By December, 140 people had jumped. Steamers and boats saw an opportunity and began to provide regular transport to the island. They refused to sell one-way tickets, which lays claim to a certain logic all around. Tourists came to watch. 160 jumped the next year. Jamison reports: “In January 1935, three young men jumped to their deaths within ten minutes of each other.”

In 1936, the figure was 600. Jamison quotes Ellis and Allen’s Traitors Within: “The island’s population increased greatly. Fourteen hotels and 20 restaurants opened within two years. Horses were imported to carry tourists to Mihara’s summit. Five taxicab companies opened for business … A post office was opened at the crater’s edge.” And, the pièce de résistance: “a 1,200 foot chute-the-chute down Mihara’s slope” was built “to provide the visitors a final thrill.” For all of the above, Rating: 5 Stars.

< § >

—
Return of Godzilla (1984). Godzilla later escapes; see (or don’t see) Godzilla v. Biolantte (1989).
Jamison, Night Falls Fast, 146-7.