Showa Mothra's Origins Reconsidered

[Egg-Zilla]

Recently I purchased the Icons of Sci-Fi Toho Collection DVD set, containing the Japanese version of the original Mothra and the English version with commentary by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszweski. Listening to the commentary, Ryfle (I think it was him) brought up an interesting topic- the serialized novel the film was based off of, The Luminous Fairies and Mothra. He noted changes between the novel and the screenplay by Shinichi Sekizawa, most significantly how he cropped the mythology of Infant Island from the story, as it would have taken a heavy amount of screen time to explain.

Supposedly the inhabitants of Infant Island had a creation story similar to that of the Bible (although what little the commentary outlines makes this doubtful) which they relate to "Bulldog" Fukuda. In this story, two deities, (actual spelling unknown) Ojima the God of Eternal Night and Ojiko the Goddess of Day Light are responsible for creating the island. Ojima and Ojiko conceived a giant egg, containing Mothra, and two human beings, who populated Infant Island. They then conceived a clutch of small eggs, which hatched into caterpillers, which became moths and flew away. Ojima became infuriated for some reason and tore his own body into four pieces. Ojiko was grieved by this and commited suicide, breaking her own body into four pieces, which then became the Shobijin (reduced to just two Shobijin in the film).
This abbrevianted account is the only English description of The Luminous Fairies and Mothra's content I've encountered, and the closest thing to an origin story for the Showa Mothra we have, other than the movie's brief allusion to Atlantis. Whether or not the myth should be considered part of Mothra's continuity and whether it should be interpreted literally is difficult to determine. The part about there being four Shobijin is irreconcilable with the films, though nothing stops Ojiko from tearing her body into just two pieces. I'm not sure what to make of it. The one line reference to Atlantis was always enough for me to asume Showa Mothra's origins mirrored those of Heisei Gamera- a guardian monster genetically engineered by Atlantis to fight evil. Kaijuologists such as the great Chris N and Den Valdron followed similar theories for ALL of the giant monsters inhabiting the Tohoverse, assuming them to be the creations of ancient super science from civilizations such as Mu and Seatopia. Mothra's origins may be more mystical still if the original background is to be taken as canon.