I’m such a geek, I would love to be there for this.

The film Gojira – the Japanese movie that started Godzilla’s career in November 1954 – will be shown during the conference.

Organisers want to provoke discussion of globalisation, Japanese popular culture and Japanese-American relations after World War II.

Bill Tsutsui, a history professor at the University of Kansas and author of the book Godzilla on My Mind, said he would like people to take Godzilla “more seriously”.

Historians, anthropologists and other academics from prestigious universities such as Duke, Harvard and Vanderbilt are expected to attend.

I’m not that serious, though, I just love the way he smashes shit.