The Showa era (昭和 Shōwa), or Showa period (昭和時代 Shōwa jidai), was a political period of Japan which lasted from 1926 to 1989 under the reign of Emperor Shōwa, formerly Hirohito. Films produced during this era, such as those of the Godzilla or Gamera series, may be identified as the Showa series (昭和シリーズ Shōwa shirīzu) of their respective franchises. The first Godzilla film began the Showa era of the kaiju industry, with Godzilla being the usual kaiju affiliated with this era. It was succeeded by the Heisei era.
During the beginning of the Showa era, Godzilla was mainly antagonistic in nature, taking on the likes of Anguirus and Mothra. By the time of Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla adopted what would soon become his most famous image: a heroic monster, battling terrible villains with other monsters by his side.
The Showa era saw many other film studios such as Daiei, Shochiku and Nikkatsu attempt to enter the new genres of tokusatsu and kaiju films with their own creations, including Gamera, Daimajin, Guilala and Gappa.
After the formation of Tsuburaya Productions and the creation of their most famous series, the Ultraman franchise, Toho produced a significant number of tokusatsu television programs in the Showa era, one of which, Zone Fighter, even featured appearances by Godzilla and some of his other monster co-stars and is considered part of the official continuity of the Showa Godzilla films.[citation needed]
