Pink Tentacle (52)

Push-kun: Screwy robot trash can (video)

15 Apr 2008

Push-kun, a.k.a. Mr. Push --

At first glance it looks like a trash can, but Push-kun (a.k.a. Mr. Push) is a robot that moves around on crab-like legs, tells jokes, plays drum rolls on itself, tosses oversized dice and performs other screwball antics. Created by Osaka-based Robot Force, Push-kun's pointless and impractical (and entertaining) nature earned it a spot in the Baka RoboCup 2007 competition, which aims to recognize the year's stupidest (and most entertaining) robots. Push-kun fared well in the contest, but the prize went to a more worthy opponent. Check out Push-kun's moves in this video shot at a recent robot conference in Tokyo.

A little red robot named OniRoppo, also created by Robot Force, appears toward the end of the video.

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Secret underground warehouse in Tokyo (video)

14 Apr 2008

Secret underground disaster supply warehouse in Tokyo --

In this video, a camera crew follows a city official to a trapdoor hidden in a Tokyo sidewalk, which opens to a narrow stairway leading to a giant underground warehouse stocked with emergency supplies. (Watch it.)

Located 20 meters (65 ft) underground, the 1,480 square meter (16,000 sq ft) space contains emergency supplies to be distributed to the public in the event of a major earthquake. Items include 5,000 blankets, 8,000 rugs, 4,000 candles, 300 cooking pots, 200 t-shirts, and emergency medical supplies. A conveyor belt system is installed to help transport the supplies up to street level.

The underground warehouse is connected to an unnamed station on the Oedo line, Tokyo's deepest subway. Apparently, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government maintains more than one of these warehouses, but the locations are kept secret.

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Video: Mononoke Dance

14 Apr 2008

Mononoke Dance --

Denki Groove's video for "Mononoke Dance" is yet another masterpiece by manga artist Masakazu Amahisa. Using stick-puppet animation, the video tells the story of a couple who crash their car on a dark forest road and encounter a Konaki-jiji (monster baby with the face of an old man) that leads them deep into the woods to a wild party for yokai, or traditional Japanese monsters. (Watch it.)

Guests at the party include Hitodama (fireballs), Kyonshi (Chinese vampire), Onyudo (shapeshifting monk), Jizo (guardian deity of children), Noppera-bo (faceless ghost), Rokurokubi (long-necked monster), Kappa (water imp), Hoichi the Earless, someone who dances like Yoshio Kojima, and many others.

Incidentally, the song "Mononoke Dance" is used as the opening theme for the "Hakaba Kitaro" anime series now airing on Fuji TV (the video here is completely unrelated to the TV show).

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Galaxy Boy Troop: ’60s anime-style sci-fi puppetry

09 Apr 2008

Galaxy Boy Troop --

Osamu Tezuka's "Galaxy Boy Troop," a 92-episode children's space opera that aired on NHK from 1963 to 1965, featured a unique blend of animation (Mushi Production) and puppetry (Takeda Puppet Troupe). The series also aired in France, where it was known as "Le Commando De La Voie Lactee" (lit. "Commando Of The Milky Way"). The original Japanese masters and films are believed to have been lost or destroyed, and the few known surviving fragments are from French sources. (Watch a clip.)

In this story, aliens on the dark side of the moon have begun bombing Earth, and the crew of heroes -- led by Commander Rop & Mister 6 (his intelligent computerized transport vehicle) -- go to the moon to find and destroy their lunar base. The musical score is by renowned electronic music composer Isao Tomita.

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IKEA decks out Kobe train

09 Apr 2008

IKEA decorates Kobe Port Liner --

Swedish furniture giant IKEA has converted the Kobe Portliner Monorail into a moving showroom before the April 14 opening of a new retail outlet at Port Island. The redecorated train, which features a colorful exterior, bright upholstery and fancy curtains, will carry passengers in style until May 6.

IKEA decorates Kobe Port Liner --

[More photos here: 1, 2, 3, 4]

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Rin Nadeshico’s girls cozy up with giant beasts

08 Apr 2008

In Rin Nadeshico's computer graphic illustrations, Mt. Fuji looms in the distance as high school girls lounge around with various oversized creatures.

Illustration by Rinne Nadeshico --

Lots more at Rin Nadeshico's website.

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Rare old footage of Flower Travellin’ Band

08 Apr 2008

Flower Travellin' Band --

In 1973, Japanese psychedelic prog rock pioneers Flower Travellin' Band played their last show at Maruyama Park in Kyoto. The show came shortly after the release of their final album "MAKE UP," and after the cancellation of their scheduled Japan tour with the Rolling Stones (immigration officials refused Mick Jagger a visa). Pieces of the wild final performance were captured on 8mm film. The music here is "Satori - Part II" from the legendary Satori album (1971).

A 1969 Chunichi News piece entitled "Rock and Youth" profiled eccentric frontman Joe Yamanaka, who was 22 years old at the time. In the report, Joe -- a former professional boxer and fashion model who says his African-American/Japanese blood flows with the essence of rock 'n' roll -- professes a deeper love for explosive rock than for sentimental enka. The music here is a supercharged version of Muddy Waters' "Louisiana Blues," from Flower Travellin' Band's "Anywhere" album (1970).

Flower Travellin' Band reunited this year -- 35 years after their last show in Kyoto -- and are putting together a new album. They are scheduled to play at Fuji Rock Festival this summer.

[Photo: Joe Yamanaka]

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Canoe made from disposable chopsticks

07 Apr 2008

Canoe made of chopsticks --

A former city employee in the Fukushima prefecture town of Koriyama has built a 4-meter (13-ft) long canoe from thousands of used disposable chopsticks recovered from the city hall cafeteria. Bothered that perfectly good wood was going to waste after a single use, Shuhei Ogawara -- whose job at city hall involved working with the local forestry industry -- spent the last two years of his career collecting used chopsticks from the cafeteria. An experienced canoe builder, Ogawara spent over 3 months gluing 7,382 chopsticks together into strips to form the canoe shell, to which he added a polyester resin coat. The canoe weighs about 30 kilograms (66 lbs), which is a bit heavier than an ordinary cedar canoe, but Ogawara is confident it will float. A launching ceremony is planned for May at nearby Lake Inawashiro.

[Source: Asahi]

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Joge-e: Two-way pictures

01 Apr 2008

Joge-e, or "two-way pictures," are a type of woodblock print that can be viewed either rightside-up or upside-down. Large numbers of these playful prints were produced for mass consumption in the 19th century, and they commonly featured bizarre faces of deities, monsters or historical figures (including some from China). Only a few examples of original joge-e survive today. Here are a few.

Asobi-e: Two-way face --

This print by Kuniyoshi (c. 1852) depicts Hotei (Laughing Buddha) and Shoki (a character from the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"). When viewed upside-down, Hotei becomes Asahina (a character from a popular novel of the time) and Shoki becomes Zhang Fei.

Asobi-e: Two-way face --

This woodblock print was published by Ezakiya Tatsuzo (c. 1842). Left to right, top to bottom (upside-down image described in parentheses): 1. Small tengu (Gedo, an evil person), 2. King Zhou, Shang Dynasty (Guan Yu), 3. Wind god (Thunder), 4. Nyudo (Pair of frogs), 5. Tengu looking up (Tengu looking down), 6. Tofu Kozo (Mitsume Kozo), 7. Onamuchi-no-mikoto, Shinto god of nation-building, farming, business and medicine (Iruka-no-omi), 8. Cao Cao (Shoki, Zhang Fei), 9. Mikenja (Ghost of Mirin).

Asobi-e: Two-way face --

This print by Kuniyoshi (c. 1852) shows a Daruma and Tokusakari (a character from a famous Noh play). Viewed upside-down, the Daruma becomes a Gedo (an evil person) and Tokusakari becomes Ikyu (a character from the famous play "Sukeroku").

Asobi-e: Two-way face --

Created by Yoshitora, 1861. Left column (top to bottom): 1. Fukusuke, god of merchant prosperity (Frog), 2. Evil man (Ebisu, god of fishermen and good luck), 3. Fukurokuju, god of wisdom and longevity (Tanuki, racoon dog with giant scrotum). Center: 4. Ikyu (Foreigner) , 5. Okame (Dekusuke), 6. Gedo, an evil person (Asahina). Right: 7. Hotei, Laughing Buddha (Yakko), 8. Earth god (Mountain god).

Asobi-e: Two-way face --

Created by Yoshitora, 1862. Left column (top to bottom): 1. Tadafumi (Gedo, an evil person), 2. Hunter (Frog), 3. Small tengu (Big tengu), 4. Bad guy (Bad guy). Center: 5. Two-horned demon (One-horned demon), 6. Kasane, possessed female character in famous Kabuki play (Ugly man), 7. Daruma (Daruma). Right: 8. Foreigner (Ainu), 9. Nio guardian (A-un guardian).

Asobi-e: Two-way face --

[Images from: Edo no Asobi-e, Tokyo Shoseki, 1988 (out of print)]

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