Today I went to the Gundam Factory in Yokohama to see the life-sized Gundam.
It was brutally hot even at 9 am when I got to Yokohama, and standing in line in direct sun outside the factory almost made me pass out. Quite a change from the rain this past week!
There’s not much to this attraction truth be told: it’s just a life-sized Gundam, which gives an impression of what these things may be like if we actually could build them. As you can see (from the people in the pic) this guy is massive, and he looks fantastic.
But the big draw of course is that he moves!
He does a few routines every hour, and I got to see the full 11.5 minute one which includes a simulated startup as well as recreations of scenes from the original tv series. While his movement is slow, I felt it was fitting for such a giant object. It was like watching a building move!
The ‘trick’ is that this isn’t an actual robot at all; more a puppet. His feet don’t even touch the ground, but hover a few centimeters above it (but you have to look closely to notice this; they hid it well). He’s got a lot of articulation and fine details, and while you’re watching him you can almost believe he’s real!
This being Japan there’s a rather lengthy apology mounted on a wall near the exit, in which one of the creators explains why the giant Gundam can’t actually walk or move quickly (short version; it’s too difficult). He suggests the next generation learn to overcome these obstacles so that one day we may build a real Gundam.
After his routine he strikes a pose, and then eventually returns to the scaffolding awaiting the next performance. There’s not much else to do at the factory (it has a shop and a restaurant), so this can be as brief as a 15 minute stop if you time things perfectly. If you like Gundams or even the idea of Gundams, this is great, but if you don’t you may want to simply wait outside while someone else goes in and takes photos/video for you to enjoy.
After a gourmet lunch, I explored a nearby mall before shopping and ‘preliminary packing’. The Sun had drained my life and I actually fell asleep on the train before I got back to Akihabara station. Of course after a quick dinner I then headed back out to Akiba… but that can wait till another upcoming post 🙂