Toy and game maker Bandai Co. says it will open a shop specializing in Gunpla — the plastic models based on the popular “Gundam” anime franchise — in Tokyo’s Odaiba waterfront area this summer. The Gundam Base Tokyo shop will be the world’s largest ...
A small bar in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward is becoming popular with middle-aged men who like to make plastic models of characters from the “Mobile Suit Gundam” cartoon. “It’s like a secret base,” said Kentaro Nonaka, 36, a company worker who lives in adjacent Suginami ...
In 2009, anime fans were delighted when a life-size statue of a Gundam robot was unveiled in Tokyo’s Odaiba district. The statue has now become a landmark attraction in the shopping and entertainment area. And this year, there’s finally some action as Gundam fights ...
Some of Japan’s top automakers, with a reputation for quality performance wrapped in often bland design, are turning to the country’s pop culture to give them the “J-factor” and help set them apart in a world of growing look-alikes. Designers of Nissan Motor’s GT-R ...
Sagamiya Foods Co., known for producing Gundam robot-shaped tofu, will put the latest of its unusual tofu series on store shelves Friday. About two years after the last Gundam tofu hit the market, the Gunma Prefecture-based tofu-maker on Thursday unveiled its new tofu whose ...
Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry K.K. unveiled a pure gold replica of a Gundam robot at a press preview Thursday for an exhibition titled “The Art of Gundam.” The figurine, which stands 12.5 cm tall and weighs 1 kg, has a hefty price tag of ¥20 ...
The life-sized Gundam figurine in Tokyo’s Odaiba district is an impressive sight as it towers a full 18 meters above its visitors and has grown into a popular tourist attraction since it was erected in 2009. Built to mark the 30th anniversary of the ...
If giant robots excite you, then you will know Gundam — a name that has become synonymous with the sci-fi mecha genre. “Mobile Suit Gundam” premiered on TV in 1979, and since then has been adapted into countless sequels and spinoffs. It remains popular ...
With its mountains of public debt, a nuclear meltdown to mop up and the 2020 Olympics bill, you’d think the last thing the Japanese government would be spending taxpayer money on is a study on robots in science fiction. But as the Terminator once ...
A producers’ group whose members include Yoshiyuki Tomino, director of the animated television series “Mobile Suit Gundam,” says it has teamed up with major U.S. special effects studio Legacy Effects LLC. The move is intended to promote works based on Japanese manga and anime ...
The life of a pro athlete can be grueling, but 37-year-old soccer player Dan Ito has a perverse determination to make his even more so.
The 1970s was an important decade for the development of Japanese pop-cultural icons. Kindergarten children back then would likely have been introduced to the characters Doraemon (1969), Anpanman (1973) and Hello Kitty (1974).
