The fire-breathing super-destructive monster Godzilla has once again stomped into Tokyo, the city that he has quailed under his ferocious assault so many times before.
This time, however, the mighty behemoth has been invited by city fathers - as a special resident and tourism ambassador.
A full-scale model of the reptilian destroyer's head, 52 metres high, was unveiled at a ceremony in the Japanese capital 's Shinjuku ward.
Officials hope Godzilla, a franchise reinvigorated after the hit 2014 reboot, will bring the tourists flocking in.
An actor in a rubber suit - used to show the monster before the age of slick Hollywood effects - met Shinjuku mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi.
The creature's clumsy claws meant film exec Minami Ichikawa had to accept the residency certificate on the monster's behalf.
Mr Yoshizumi said: "Godzilla is a character that is the pride of Japan."
"I hear that any town Godzilla destroys on screen will become prosperous afterwards. So I hope the next movie will take place in this area.”
Godzilla is a giant monster that lays waste to cities and first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla.
He is now a worldwide pop culture icon and has starred in 28 films produced by film company Toho.
Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident, where a Japanese fishing vessel was contaminated by fallout from a US test blast in 1954.
His original Japanese name, Gojira, is an amalgam of the Japanese words gorira (gorilla)and kujira (whale).
Toho is planning to resurrect the franchise following the success of the American remake in 2014.
