FEPY

Kamikaze (from an unidentified series)

This high-spirited set of vintage New Year’s cards celebrates the historic flight of the Kamikaze, a Mitsubishi Ki-15 aircraft that became the first Japanese-built plane to fly from Japan to Europe. Sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and piloted by Masaaki Iinuma (who came to be known as “the Japanese Lindbergh”), the Kamikaze made its momentous 51-hour flight from Tokyo to London in April 1937. The New Year’s cards were printed later that year by Tanaka & Co. (the artist is unknown).

Kamikaze between Tokyo and London (from the “Japan in Progress” series)

Kamikaze and pilot (from an unidentified series)

Kamikaze (from an unidentified series)

Kamikaze and pilot (from an unidentified series)

Kamikaze over Mt Fuji (from the “Japan in Progress” series)

Boy on bicycle waves to Kamikaze (from an unidentified series)

Kamikaze (from the “Japan in Progress” series)

Boys on the prairie wave to Kamikaze (from an unidentified series)

Kamikaze over Mt Fuji (from the “Japan in Progress” series)

[Link: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]

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As we bid farewell to 2009, it’s a good time to look back at some of the most popular Pink Tentacle posts of the year. Here are the top ten, in case you missed them the first time around.

1. Animated stereoviews of old Japan: Meiji-period stereoview photographs by T. Enami, presented as animated GIFs to create the illusion of three dimensions.

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2. Nocturnal Gundam: A glimpse of the Odaiba Gundam after dark.

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3. Monster mummies of Japan: A look at some of the mummified monsters found at temples and shrines around Japan.

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4. Pregnant dolls from Edo-period Japan: 19th-century dolls designed to teach the anatomy of pregnancy.

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5. World Sand Sculpture Festival: Photos from the 2009 World Sand Sculpture Festival in Tottori, Japan.

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6. All-purpose tanuki testicles: Ukiyoe prints by Kuniyoshi depicting the remarkable versatility of oversized tanuki (raccoon dog) testicles.

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7. Anatomy of Japanese folk monsters: Cutaway diagrams from Shigeru Mizuki’s Yōkai Daizukai, an illustrated guide to yōkai anatomy.

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8. Ultrasonic bath: Video and photos of a futuristic human washing machine unveiled at the 1970 World Expo in Osaka.

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9. Giant robot spider in Yokohama: Photos and video of the first La Machine sightings in Yokohama.

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10. iREX 2009: Photos from the 2009 International Robot Exhibition held in Tokyo in November.

Have a Happy New Year! See you again in 2010.

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A robot designed to help with the grocery shopping is being tested at a Kyoto-area supermarket.

+ Video

The robotic assistant — an advanced version of the Robovie-II android developed by Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) — is the centerpiece of a networked system of robots, sensors and digital technology designed to make shopping more convenient and entertaining for the elderly. ATR is testing the experimental system at the Apita-Seikadai supermarket in Kyoto until March 2010.

To use the system, shoppers first create a shopping list at home using a special mobile device (they simply tell the robot’s on-screen avatar what they want to buy before going to the supermarket). Later, when the customer arrives at the store, sensors automatically detect the mobile device. The user’s data is wirelessly transmitted to a waiting robot, which greets the customer by name and says, “Let’s start shopping.”

In the video above, which shows part of a test conducted on December 10, the child-sized robot accompanies a 67-year-old woman while she shops for mandarin oranges and broccoli. In addition to carrying the woman’s shopping basket, the robot reminds her to get the mandarin oranges, recommends the apples (which the robot says are delicious this season), reminds her to get the broccoli, and suggests including lettuce in her salad along with the broccoli. On several occasions, the robot remarks on how delicious the items look.

When asked her impression of the system after the demonstration, the woman said she felt almost as if she were shopping with her grandchild, and she said it was fun talking with the robot.

[Source: Robot Watch]

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Department store operator Sogo & Seibu has announced plans to sell two humanoid robots custom-built to look like the people who purchase them.

Roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro already got his

The mechanical doppelgangers are available for a limited time as part of a special New Year’s promotional sale at Sogo, Seibu, and Robinson’s department stores. They will be built by Japanese robotics firm Kokoro, which is perhaps best known for its line of Actroid receptionist humanoids.

In addition to providing the robot with the owner’s face, body, hair, eyes and eyelashes, Kokoro will model the robot’s facial expressions and upper body movements after the buyer. The robot’s speech will be based on recordings of the owner’s voice.

Orders will be accepted from January 1 to 3 at any of Japan’s 28 Sogo, Seibu, or Robinson’s department stores. Only two robot twins are available, but given the hefty price tag of 20.1 million yen ($223,000) each, the stores will likely be hard-pressed to find any takers. If more than two orders are received, the purchasers will be selected in a random drawing.

[Source: IT Media]

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+ (autumn)

The latest time-lapse video by Tokyo-based photographer Samuel Cockedey features captivating views of Mt. Fuji, Miyajima (Itsukushima Shrine), and Iwate prefecture.

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Records of mermaid encounters were not uncommon in 19th-century Japan, and a number of illustrated documents from that period — including a few by notable natural historians — depict some fantastic specimens rarely seen in today’s world.

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Mermaid illustration obtained by Blomhoff, late Edo period (artist unknown)

This mermaid illustration from the National Museum of Ethnology (Leiden, Netherlands) was obtained by Dutch trader Jan Cock Blomhoff, who served as director of the Dejima trading post in Nagasaki from 1817 to 1824. The drawing appears to show a different mermaid than Blomhoff’s famous mummified specimen, which is also owned by the museum.

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Noted natural historian Baien Mouri (1798-1851), a prolific illustrator known for his colorful depictions of plants and animals, included two sketches of a mermaid in his 1835 book Baien Gyofu (”Baien Book of Fish”).

No apparent effort was made to distinguish the mermaid drawings from the dozens of other illustrations of known sea animals that appear in the book.

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[Enlarge]

This 1805 illustration (artist unknown) from the Waseda University Theater Museum shows a mermaid that was reportedly captured in Toyama Bay. According to the accompanying text, the creature measured 10.6 meters (35 ft) long.

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Keisuke Ito (1803–1901) — a.k.a. the father of modern Japanese botany — was a noted botanist, medical practitioner, and prolific natural history illustrator. He included several mermaid illustrations in his books, which consisted mostly of drawings of known animals.

Ito’s illustrated Kinka Juufu (”Book of Beasts”) included a drawing of a mermaid swimming alongside an Australian sea lion (Zalophus lobatus).

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Kinka Gyofu (”Book of Fish”), another illustrated work by Ito, included a depiction of scaly mermaids measuring about 67 centimeters (26 in) long.

Ito also included this pair of mermaid illustrations in Kinka Gyofu (”Book of Fish”) with no apparent effort to distinguish them from the hundreds of other known fish and sea animals pictured in the book.

It is unclear whether these illustrations were based on actual observations. Were they the product of an overactive imagination? Were they deliberate fabrications? Or did mermaids once inhabit the waters of Japan?

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Masamichi Hayashi, president of marine education establishment kyg-lab, has hand-crafted over 100 robotic marine creatures from recycled items such as plastic bottles, food containers, styrofoam, raincoats, and windshield wiper motors. A self-taught roboticist, Hayashi relies on his formal experience as a marine scientist to endow his machines with realistic movements, and he uses them in free shows to teach kids about the locomotion and behavior of sea creatures.

Here is a short video showing Hayashi’s great white shark, manta ray, green turtle, hammerhead shark, Japanese giant salamander, porpoise, and killer whale.

+ Video

Hayashi’s masterpiece is a 1.5 meter (5 ft) long coelacanth robot that weighs 48 kilograms (105 lbs) and cost 2 million yen ($22,000) to build. Here is some video of a diver giving it a snack.

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The coelacanth robot also makes a cameo in the next video, along with a tsuchinoko, a turtle, and a lake monster that carries a piece of waterborne trash to the curious onlookers on shore.

+ Video

[Link: kyg-lab]

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“scoreLight” is a laser-based musical device that generates real-time sound based on the shape of drawings or objects.

+ scoreLight (ver.1)

Relying on 3D tracking technology developed at the Ishikawa-Komuro Laboratory in 2003, scoreLight uses lasers to trace the outline of a drawing or object. As the laser dances along the contours, scoreLight produces and modulates sound according to the curvature, angle, texture, color, and contrast. An abrupt change in the direction of a line generates a discrete sound (a glitch or percussion sound), resulting in a steady rhythm when the laser follows a looped path (the size and shape of the looped path determines the tempo and structure of the beat). The device creates a layered tapestry of sound when multiple laser points explore different parts of a drawing.

Here is some video of scoreLight making music from a sketch of a brain:

+ NOU-ISE

scoreLight’s developers include Alvaro Cassinelli (concept, hardware and software), Kuribara Yusaku (software), Daito Manabe (sound concept and programming) and Alexis Zerroug (electronics). See Cassinelli’s YouTube channel for more videos.

[Link: scoreLight]

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A frenetic animated version of the Japanese television apocalypse is depicted in “the TV show,” a video by Kousuke Sugimoto with music by Takayuki Manabe.

+ the TV show

[Via MetaFilter]

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A recent episode of the Fuji TV variety show Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! featured a group of Ultraman monsters dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” as part of a mock audition for the new Ultraman film “Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend The Movie.”

[Link: YouTube via Japan Probe]

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