WMG / Godzilla (1954)

The reason Dr. Yamane wanted Godzilla saved...

Hardly anyone listens to Dr. Yamane's pleas that Godzilla should be studied and not destroyed. Of course, no one listens and even Dr. Yamane comes around to the idea of destroying Godzilla. The question is, why was he so hell bent on keeping Godzilla alive. Yeah, it's noted that he's a paleontologist and the fact there's a living dinosaur roaming around would pique the interest of any half decent paleontologist. However, he seems more sad than upset/angry when depth charges are being deployed, like studying Godzilla was more than a cool dinosaur. By this point, he knows Godzilla has survived getting hit by atomic bombs and does note that learning how he survived it could help humans, but even that doesn't explain his disappointment, even when his wife tries to...

That's the thing: Dr. Yamane's wife/Emiko's mom is not seen or even mentioned in either version of the film. What more, this film doesn't take place in an alternate universe where Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not devastated by atomic bombs. It happened and its heavily implied (and several time, almost outright stated) to be on everyone's minds. So the bombings happened, Dr. Yamane's wife is not present and...

Well, there are several reasons for Mrs. Yamane to be in either Hiroshima or Nagasaki without Dr. Yamane or Emiko (friends, family). Dr. Yamane would not want any other family to go through what he and Emiko went through, hence almost complete investment in Godzilla's well-being... at least until Godzilla trashes Tokyo and Dr. Yamane sees that Godzilla is just going to keep doing what Fat Man and Little Boy did.