Giant Robo (ジャイアントロボ) and the Romanticist Japanese

Yesterday, I wrote about the world's first robot marathon that was held by Japan. See that article and some very funny videos here.

Japan has always had a certain flair for robots (be they real, giant or otherwise) and when I was a kid growing up in America, we always thought it was strange. Even though my mom was Japanese, us kids living in the Midwest USA thought these Japanese cartoons and TV shows were not cool.

How little did we realize that this 60's Japanese Kitsch was extremely cool.... The ones who weren't cool were us dorky kids who wouldn't recognize cool if it came up and slapped us in the face!

When a good friend and regular reader sent in a Youtube video link to Giant Robo for me after reading that article about the robot marathon, I clicked on it and watched. "Ah!" I thought, "I remember this TV show! His finger is a rocket!"

A few seconds later, when the theme song to Giant Robo came through the computer speakers, my wife heard it and ran over like an excited little girl and exclaimed, "I loved this TV show! When it ended, I cried and cried!" (She almost started to cry too!)

When my wife said that to me, tears came to my eyes! She reminded me of my mother; and, her emotions remind me, once again, just how romanticist and delicate the Japanese can be.

I love this country and these people. 

Here's the story of Giant Robo... Just one more clue into why the Japanese have a fascination with robots and giant radioactive creatures from space and the bottom of the ocean....

Giant Robo first appeared in 

Weekly Shonan Sunday 1967

The Giant Robo manga (comics) first appeared in a weekly comic book called Weekly Shōnen Sunday on May 1967. Written by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Giant Robo tells the story of Daisaku Kusama, the titular Robo and an evil secret society known only as "Big Fire." In October of the same year, a live-action adaptation premiered on TV Asahi

To see the very final scene of the final episode of Giant Robot - when he destroys the bad guy and destroys himself in the process - thereby saving the entire world by sacrificing himself - watch this one. The part with the final episode begins at about 4:37. Giant Robo meets his most deadly and dangerous adversary so far. The only way to destroy this evil creature is by flying into space and crashing into an asteroid and killing the monster and himself in the process.


Talk about making the ultimate sacrifice!

Fact of the matter is that, even though this was a hugely popular show with the kids and the ratings were good, the productions costs were way too high and sales to sponsors were not good. Maybe, since this was the 1960's, and before Japan's Economic Miracle, kids weren't a choice marketing target.

Watch this with any Japanese who is between 40 ~ 50 years old and they'll probably start crying. This is so very Japanese. The idea that a guy will kill himself - sacrifice himself - for the good of his loved ones is a theme that is steeped in tradition and a part and parcel of the Japanese psyche. In this country, the true hero is considered anyone who will do anything to save his loved ones.


See? I told you the Japanese are quite romantic!


To see more geeky stuff about Giant Robo click here.

Thanks to Ira Hata

Robot Marathon Held in Japan

This is pretty funny! In Japan, a robot marathon race started last Thursday and just finished running a few moments ago. Take time to watch the videos below. They are definitely worth a few laughs.


But, now, I'd like to be the first to announce the winner to the English press. 


Ladies and gentlemen... The winner is.... er, this dude....

Heck, what's his name? I don't know. Let's just call him "Mr. We Love Osaka Dude." He's, er,... she's, it's the winner of the world's first robot marathon ever held and it's was an exciting race!


Omedetou gozaimasu! (Congratulations!)

National Post Reports:


Robot Marathon Ran in Osaka


A group of knee-high androids have crossed the starting line in Osaka, Japan for the first ever robot marathon, reported the BBC. The race, which started on Thursday, is expected to take about four days and will require 423 laps around an indoor track. The rules are as follows: bot operators are allowed to change robots' batteries and motors during the race, but they can't pick them up if they fall over - the droids must right themselves.


Since I enjoy British humor a lot, here two funny takes by the Brits on the festivities. Enjoy!

If you are crazy about Japanese Robots

then visit Robot Japan's web page and gallery.

Also thanks to Japan Today

Wasting More Tax Money on Useless Space Exploration

In any effort to capture the public's imagination so that they are sympathetic to wasting billions upon billions of dollars - Japanese yen - for continued space research, the folks at NASA and NASDA (Japan's own version of NASA) are always trying to do something to make space travel exciting and fun and not, I repeat not, a cover for sending rockets and satellites into space for military purposes.


It doesn't matter that we are taxed out to the limit or debt at over 200% of GDP, space exploration is exciting and fun so we must do it. It is not a waste of money like other things the government wastes money on. This one is different. Really.


That some dead-enders and party-poopers would claim that those Communications Satellites we keep sending up have military uses and can - and are - used for spying. We deny that completely. 

Ah! Space travel. I remember the heady days when I was a kid and it was rumored that the USA spent several million dollars developing a ball point pen while the Russians used a pencil... The story is not exactly true but it illustrates what might be going on behind the scenes...


We do know that, for example, Japan spent $78 billion dollars on 212 some environmental programs in 2010 concerning Global Warming that were all miserable failures.


Now, we find out that Japan is going to send up a robot that can use Twitter.... 


Techeye.net reports:

A report said that Japan will launch a robot resembling a human being that can is so like a human that it will even use Twitter.

According to the report, on nikkei.com, the robot is the result of a collaboration between the University of Tokyo, Dentsu and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.

This robot is some clever robot, because the report suggests that it will be kitted out with a camera and look closely at the faces of human beings to see if they’re getting stressed out. It will then, presumably, tweet this information down to this planet. (emphasis mine).

It is all a little bit 2001ish but it’s going to be with us soon, because nikkei.com says that a prototype will be on the next space shuttle later this month.

The article ends with a humorous question that I like but think doesn't go to the logical conclusion:

There’s a case, isn’t there, for not bothering to send humans into space at all, just robots and caseloads of defunct mobile phones. 

The ending should say, "There's a case, isn't there, for not bothering to do any of this at all as it is just another huge waste of taxpayer monies that we don't have. For one, the government can't even repair potholes in the streets on time and within budget. What's makes anyone think the space program is not a huge waste of money? And, two; if space exploration were profitable and useful then private industry could and would do a much better job and it wouldn't put the burden on taxpayers."

"Danger! Danger! Dr. Smith has gone mad! 
Must Tweet! Must Tweet!"

Some people will argue that "Someday space exploration will yield great results and be very profitable. Oh really? Where is the evidence for that kind of thinking? Supposedly we've been doing this, at least in America, for over 40 years and we've lost hundreds of billions of dollars. 

Just when is this going to be profitable?

Also, we don't even understand our own planet; we have more than 1/2 the planet starving; we have problems of pollution; wars; running out of energy; etc. etc.... I'm not saying that the government should do something about those problems. No! I think the government should just get out of the way. 


But if someone wants to take the argument that we need to explore space for the "benefit of mankind" then I will counter that there are many more efficient ways to achieve such ends closer to home. 

Or are photos of comets that pass by the earth all that important to our daily life?

Anyhow, ploys like sending this stupid robot up in space "that can use Twitter" (as if important messages about astronauts help would be left to an Internet service that is often down and certainly not private) or picking a Japanese to be captain of the International Space Station are all media tricks to pull at people's emotions and get those people to approve of this waste of money and to support it... 


Seriously, if they want to capture the imagination of people for space travel, we'd best leave it to private organizations and hope that someone makes more movies like Star Wars or TV shows like Lost in Space or Star Trek.

The government-run space program should be killed immediately. 

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Robot on Stage in Japan

With how bad a lot of actors are (think Sylvester Stallone, etc...) the Japanese have come up with the movie proudcer's and directors dream come true. A robot actor!

The BBC Reports:

A life-like robot called Geminoid F has taken to the stage in Japan, but is there a chance it will it take over from the "real" performers?

Geminoid F was seated for the duration of the short play and her actions were controlled from behind-the-scenes by a human.

Actress Bryerly Long, working alongside the android in a Japanese play titled Sayonara, said she feels it lacks "human presence", making her feel "alone" on stage.

If the video link doesn't work, click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11732995

Japanese Robot Asimo Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Yesterday the Honda Humanoid robot, Asimo, celebrated its 10th anniversary (shouldn't that be birthday?)


As Honda News reports:


ASIMO has reached a huge milestone and will celebrate its 10th Anniversary on 31st October. A decade ago, Honda created a humanoid robot so advanced it started a revolution in humanoid robot technology. To mark this date, dedicated Anniversary websites and films have been launched today, with new photos, videos, the story of its creation and smartphone apps.

See Asimo's website here: http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/

Get the desktop widget here

Here's a video of the 10th anniversary celebration:

 

Here is the first Asimo TV commercial:





I remember that it wasn't that long ago when Japan was coming out with many exciting ideas and products... When will Japan capture that magic again?