Returning to the mainland he finds his parents are dead, killed in US air raids that destroyed almost everything.
Poverty and despair abound but he takes in a young woman Noriko (Minami Hamabe) who clutches an orphan child and the pair build an unusual family unit among the ruins. He takes a dangerous job working on a minesweeper clearing the seas around Japan of the unexploded weapons of war.
Now just as hope begins to blossom Godzilla returns, seemingly huge now and attacking shipping until the US withdraws leaving Japan to face the threat alone.
Shikishima's war is not over.
Better regarded than the Western blockbuster Godzilla movies of recent years this really doesn't mess about and Takashi Yamazaki has famously pulled off a coup of low budget filmmaking that shames them.
Five minutes in we get Godzilla onscreen but almost as a 'baby' and this kind of serves as an origin story for the old lizard.
In-between the action it's a bit of period drama diving quite unsubtly into guilt, trauma and the things people will do in the face of ruin.
As the threat rises people come together to face it and you basically can't fault the heroic action on screen. It's emotionally manipulative and as unsubtle as a giant lizard punching buildings but it has impact to go with that. There's scale to it.
Highly recommended 9/10. Hefty.