Opening of the Kobe Tetsujin Statue

The Kobe Tetsujin Statue, which I blogged about previously, was dedicated earlier this month, and Danny Choo posts pictures.

Anime cars

Danny Choo posts pictures from an Itasha (anime car) show in the Odaiba area of Tokyo.

Kobe Tetsujin project

Rick Martin, in the CNet Asia Tokyo Shift blog, reports that construction is underway on a 60 foot tall Tetsujin figure that will be put up in Kobe in August.  This is the official site for the project.

Here’s a video of the fabrication:

Of course, when Tetsujin was shown in America in the mid 60s, he was known as Gigantor, which I enjoyed when I was 3 years old. YouTube has the classic calypso opening theme:

Update:  I had missed Tokyo5’s post on Tetsujin, which explains more about the character in the Japanese context.

Video: Japanese jury system

The Japanese government has produced some animes to explain the new jury system. Via Danny Choo.

Movie: Tekkon Kinkreet

 

Tekkon Kinkreet

Tekkon Kinkreet is an anime feature film that was released in 2006, with the DVD coming out in 2007. It is based on a popular manga, was produced in Japan and directed by American Michael Arias. Great art and soundtrack, and an engaging story. Well worth a look.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (outstanding, will go out of my way to see again at some point)