An Open Letter to Ogasawara

November 11, 199X
Jim Walsh, Executive Director
Ogasawara Islands Project
United Nations Science Committee

Dear Dr. Walsh:

I just had to write to say thank you for publishing a web page about your project. I've found the data fascinating and enriching. I do have a few questions that I hope you could help me with, if it's not too much trouble.

1. Godzilla Forever's pamphlet about the Ogasawara project, which was published and distributed at least three months before your web page appeared, claims that the project is much older than the mainstream press has indicated. At the time the pamphlet even implied a cover-up of the project on the part of the scientific community. If in fact any information was "delayed" in its release to the public, why was this deemed necessary?

2. The last issue of Godzilla Forever's sporadic newsletter contains a brief interview with an anonymous correspondent who claims to be an ex-Ogasawara employee. The person, named in the article only as "Erasmusaurus" claims that he was hired *three years ago* as an architect for a research facility on Ogasawara Island. When he began asking questions about the purpose of "certain specialized structures and devices" in the design plans, he was given two weeks notice and then escorted off the island by "men with visors". Does Ogasawara have any comment on these allegations?

3. Ever since the Biollante occurrence, there has been increasing public concern over the possibility of kaiju genetic matter falling into the wrong hands. Are Ogasawara employees allowed to leave the island at all? If so, what security measures are taken to ensure that they don't smuggle such material off the island and onto the criminal market?

4. KaijuWatch, another public advocacy group, published information, again from an anonymous source, about a new species of creature of unknown origins. The creature is supposedly furry like a rodent, winged like a bat, and sharp-toothed. Supposedly it communicates using microwaves, much like how bats navigate using sonar waves. The source would not state where this information was gotten, but the editor of the paper seemed to suggest that it could only have come from the Ogasawara project. Has this strange batlike creature, or any other creature, been brought to the island?

5. Is the list of kaiju in captivity at Ogasawara a complete list of all the creatures residing there, or are there any others about whom information might be "classified"?

6. Are the reports from Ambassador Forest on Planet X censored, edited, summarized, shortened, or otherwise altered in any way? If so, is the unpublished material classified, and if so, why is it classified?

7. Finally, a personal note. A friend of a professor of an old roommate of my ex-girlfriend's ex-boyfriend has stated that the information about Miki Saegusa contained on your web page "just doesn't sound right". Apparently this acquaintance of mine knew Saegusa in college and knew her to be a great lover of all animals, with a special tenderness and concern for Godzilla. This person expressed the unlikelihood, specifically, of her having proposed any plan to torture Minya in any way. I'm just wondering about the discrepancy there.

I'm sure Ogasawara officials will be more than willing to answer these questions, especially since to appear recalcitrant would not seem to be in keeping with the new spirit of openness and respect for the public's right to know which is implied in the publication of your highly informative web page. Copies of this letter will be sent to Kaiju Watch, the Godzilla Forever Newsletter and directors of university Kaiju Studies programs around the world.

Thank you for your time.

Sigmund Shen
Ph.D. candidate, KS at NYU

Update - November 10, 199X

To date, no substantial reply to the above inquiry has been forthcoming, besides a form letter expressing "thanks for visiting Ogasawara and come again soon!" Obviously, this rather obnoxious indifference to the public's right to know and to a number of rather serious allegations verified by at least two separate activist groups is deeply disturbing. I urge you to write to Dr. Jim Walsh, Executive Director of the Ogasawara Project, and express your outrage over the Ogasawara Administration's arrogant non-compliance with the spirit of the standards set forth by IFKIT (International Freedom of Kaiju Information Treaty) which specifically states that "no person . . . shall be denied access to information concerning the behavior, reproduction, or specific location of any and all kaiju included on the Mysterious Species List."