Samの英語チャンネル

Godzilla films are famous for their subtlety and require complete concentration.

Culture Day in Japan was on 3 November, and what better way to celebrate culture than by watching the latest Godzilla film, Godzilla Minus Zero? It was a thought held by many, as the monster movie drew in an amazing 910 million yen (US$5.8M) on its opening day alone, breaking the record for a live-action film in Japan.

However, while the film itself has been incredibly well-received by critics and audiences alike, some moviegoers in Japan complained about their viewing experience. The biggest beef of all was that too many people were getting up to go to the restroom during the film.

One post by a social media user said they had an aisle seat during the movie and shortly into it, people had started going to the bathroom one after another, ruining their ability to get into the story. This might just sound like a single oversensitive reaction to this sort of thing, but the post generated significant discussion, with a majority of people agreeing.

Others also reported an inordinate number of people going to hit the head during their screenings of Godzilla Minus Zero (or Godzilla -0.0 as it’s known in Japan), including head counts they took during the film. It was enough to make me wonder if I was the weird one for paying absolutely no mind to other people going in and out of the theater in the many movies I’ve seen over the years.

There were a few comments to the contrary, saying that complaining about such a thing was going overboard. But there were many more people talking about how hard it was for them to fight the urge to pee towards the end of the movie, which, by the way, includes sitting through the entire credits. That is expected behavior among many moviegoers in Japan, not in the hopes of seeing additional scenes, but purely out of respect for the people who made the film.

I’d probably stop short of saying this is “Japanese culture” per se, but it definitely appears to be a prevailing sentiment here. To help get a sense of how people feel about this stuff, here’s a wide sampling of reactions to the situation, covering a range of opinions.

“When I saw it, no one went to the bathroom, but when the end credits started, a bunch of people got up right away to leave.”
“I think once that first person goes, everyone else feels like it’s okay, and the floodgates open.”
“I heard someone call the movie Godzilla vs King Ghidorah vs The Urge to Pee, lol.”
“A lot of people got up from their seats here too.”
“That’s the problem with blockbuster movies. They draw in people who don’t usually go to the movies.”
“When I saw it, the same people went in and out like six or seven times during the movie.”
“There was a crazy number of people going to the bathroom!”
“I was holding it in so long, it came out like a blast of atomic breath when I finally went.”
“Everyone had good manners when I saw it in Wakayama.”
“I saw two adults and one child get up during the movie, but no one got up during the credits.”
“You should just let it slide. Holding it in isn’t good for you.”
“That’s why I always watch on IMAX when possible. The screen is so big you can barely see anyone walking in front of it.”
“This is why I never go to movies. Some people might have medical issues, you know?”
“I get that it can’t be helped, but someone got up behind me, and I felt bad for all the people that person walked in front of.”
“Seriously? Calling people out just for using the restroom? I think etiquette is going in a weird direction.”
“I saw Street Fighter and had to go early on. I held it in right to the end of the credits, but it was really close.”
“Soooooo many people went to the restrooms. And during one of the scenes where a character laughed, some brat in the row behind me started laughing too. Shut the hell up!”
“Yeah, there were tons of people. I wonder why that is.”

Regardless of people’s feelings about the situation, the one objective observation here is that an inordinate number of people do seem to be going to the restroom during Godzilla Minus Zero specifically. It’s a bit of a lengthy movie, clocking in at 135 minutes, but some mention that the number of people ducking out for a moment well exceeded that of lengthier movies such as the 172-minute-long The Odyssey.

There were numerous theories as to why this is. One was that Godzilla, which dates back to the 1950s, tends to attract an older demographic who may lack the firm bladder control that the youth enjoys. The other is that the fact that a major commercial film opening on a public holiday brought in an inordinate number of people who weren’t “true movie buffs,” or perhaps just decided to see it in on a whim without planning their hydration accordingly.

By the way, according to many of the comments, a popular way to suppress the urge to urinate before watching a movie is to eat Bontan Ame candies or daifuku, the latter of which are little snacks made of sweet bean paste covered in mochi. There’s no science to back this up, but who am I to deny people their placebos?

There’s also a suspicion that a lot of people didn’t even leave to use a toilet. It could have been that some people weren’t prepared for the scenes of destruction depicted in the film, which can often resemble actual natural disasters and hit close to home for more than a few people in Japan.

Regardless of the cause, it seems the one thing we can learn from this is that when watching a movie in Japan, the safe bet is to sit perfectly still and quiet until the very last bit of footage hits the silver screen to avoid the silent wrath and judgmental stares of those around you. 

Source: Shukan Josei Prime via Yahoo! Japan News
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Source: SORA NEWS24