Sakakibara Kikai is a Japanese company that makes industrial machinery as well as some machinery for entertainment that has been featured in amusement parks and in museums around the world. Recently, they just premiered a 25-foot-tall reproduction of a robot from a highly popular anime series about a massive war involving robots:
In his childhood, Masaaki Nagumo loved the “Mobile Suit Gundam” robot anime series.
Now, as an official of industrial machinery maker Sakakibara Kikai here, he hopes that his huge bipedal robot, called the LW-Mononofu, will fulfill the dreams of children like he once had and also promote his company.
“It (LW-Mononofu) is just a toy,” Nagumo, 44, said. “But I want people to experience the world of anime and exercise their imagination through it. I will be happy if many people enjoy the robot.”
The LW-Mononofu humanoid, which is 8.5 meters tall and weighs 7.3 tons, now stands in a Sakakibara Kikai plant at the foot of Mount Harunasan.
Although the company, headed by President Hajime Sakakibara, describes the LW-Mononofu as a toy, the robot is equipped with a cockpit for a pilot so it can walk on two legs.
Sakakibara Kikai, which produces animal excrement processing machines for dairy farming and other types of machinery, began developing toy robots as part of efforts to improve its employees’ skills and promote the company.
It developed a robot called the Landwalker, which measures 3.4 meters in height in 2005, drawing considerable attention both in Japan and abroad.
Sakakibara Kikai in 2011 started creating the latest, improved LW-Mononofu model, which is nearly as tall as the ceiling of the firm’s plant.
Nagumo designed the humanoid, created computer programs, and assembled and painted the body almost entirely on his own. The entire process took him about six years.
While the LW-Mononofu is powered by both a 200-volt AC electricity source and a 24-volt DC battery.
Its cockpit can accommodate only one person, and the pilot needs to be raised with a lift to the cockpit six meters above the ground. The back of the robot can be opened, so the pilot will be seated in the driver’s space.
The cockpit is outfitted with monitors showing footage shot by cameras installed at five points on the body, and the pilot can manipulate the robot with levers, pedals and buttons.
Not only its fingers can be moved but also the LW-Mononofu can turn its upper body to change its direction of travel. An air cannon held in its right hand can shoot a toy ball at a target.
Although the LW-Mononofu can walk backward and forward by sliding its feet, its speed is as slow as less than 1 kph.
Nagumo said he could not determine the LW-Mononofu’s head design even after the project entered the final phase. Based on advice from various people, he finally decided to put a “kabuto” helmet on its head in the image of a samurai and adopt light-emitting diodes so its eye can shine. Mononofu means samurai.
While Sakakibara Kikai has not disclosed how much it spent developing the LW-Mononofu, it will consider leasing the new robot to event organizers and others in the future, if certain conditions are met. (source)
The anime series from which this robot is derived, Mobile Suit Gudnam, produced 43 episodes from April 1979 through January 1980. While not popular at the time it was produced, the anime series has a cult following and is considered one of the 100 most popular anime series of all time. The premise of the series is a war between a principality called “Zeon” that has separated itself from the “Earth Alliance” and destroys half of the human race in a war using a new robotic weapon called a “mobile suit”, which allows a person to operate a giant robot with super military capabilities.
The massive robot developed by Sakakibara Kikai coming from Mobile Suit Gudnam and the fight scene between men and the machine also bears a striking resemblance to those used in the first Terminator film, where Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn) is having a nightmare about robots attacking people except that in Terminator, there is a flying robot the resembles a plane and a large humanoidish-type robots (excluding the Terminator droids) that rolls on wheels:
Anime is important to watch because almost since its inception, it has been a powerful form of Japanese nationalist propaganda. Anime existed prior to the Japanese government, but was unable to compete with foreign companies (such as Disney) and only existed as a small, irrelevant, market until the 1930s when the government, interested in promoting Japanese nationalism, directly subsidized anime and through propaganda films made anime into one of the premier forms of entertainment in Japan and throughout Asia.As Wikipedia notes:
In the 1930s, the Japanese government began enforcing cultural nationalism. This also lead to a strict censorship and control of published media. Many animators were urged to produce animations which enforced the Japanese spirit and national affiliation. Some movies were shown in newsreel theaters, especially after the Film Law of 1939 promoted documentary and other educational films. Such support helped boost the industry, as bigger companies formed through mergers and prompted major live-action studios such as Shochiku to begin producing animation. It was at Shochiku that such masterworks as Kenzō Masaoka’s Kumo to Chūrippu were produced. Wartime reorganization of the industry, however, merged the feature film studios into three big companies.
More animated films were commissioned by the military, showing the sly, quick Japanese people winning against enemy forces. In 1943, Geijutsu Eigasha produced Mitsuyo Seo’s Momotaro’s Sea Eagles with help from the Navy. Shochiku then made Japan’s first real feature-length animated film, Seo’s Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors in 1945, again with the help of the Navy. In 1941 Princess Iron Fan had become the first Asian animation of notable length ever made in China. Due to economic factors, it would be Japan which later emerged long after the war with the most readily available resources to continue expanding the industry. (source)
Anime is not always per se promoting militarism, but anime itself is inseparable from the Japanese government and Japanese domestic and foreign policy because its popularity came from its use as propaganda in preparing the way for the Second World War. Since anime was shown to be an effective strategy and transmitting “Japanese” ideas to the world, it only makes natural sense that in a future war, anime would be used again as a way to prepare for nationalism and conflict.
In the anime being published today, one can already see how anime is being redirected towards militarism. One such example is a very popular anime series called GATE and was released in 2015 and is outright promoting Japanese militarism and nationalism. In the words of Cara Averna, a self-proclaimed “anime geek” who reviews anime series and has written about GATE, she says about the series, written in 2015 before Trump came into office:
From the start, it is almost impossible to ignore the highly pro-military stance embedded into the heart of the anime. The Japanese Self Defense Force are highlighted as heroes as they defend their country from the other worldly invaders and easily move to occupy the new world. Their actions are depicted as always being just, and their fire power has no rival either in the Gate World or outside of it. As far as expectations go, this anime puts the JSDF on a very high pedestal. Imperialism, Nationalism, Occupation and the development of warfare are key ideals portrayed throughout GATE as the anime tries to sell viewers on the JSDF.
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This September Japan made one the biggest military decision it has faced in the past decades. Early morning on September 19 the Diet approved two bills; one amends 10 existing security-related laws that restrict the Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF). This includes Article 9 which states, “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.” The other change creates a new permanent law that allows Japan to deploy the SDF overseas to provide logistic support for authorized United Nations missions.
These new allowances will hopefully create exactly the same type of military seen in GATE. A JSDF to be reckoned with and that moves into unknown territory for defensive efforts, one that can stand toe to toe with countries such as Russia, China, and even the US. Watching the military presented in GATE is almost laughable when compared to reality, but it’s understandable why this type of media is peeking its head out for the first time. (source)
This reflects what we warned about back in August 2016 about the rise of Japanese militarism:
The Japanese, while acting as though they prefer to remain pacifist while depending on the Americans for protection, have been quite agitated by these restrictions. Such a pacifistic and dependent obligation agitates the proud spirit of the Japanese. But, it appears that now Japan will soon get the liberation that it seeks. (source)
Likewise, one only needs to look at 4Chan’s history to understand the power and influence of anime. Originally an anime image board that was created by a 15-year-old computer programmer name Christopher Poole, the board gained popularity over the next ten years as a center of Japanese culture online whose popularity eclipsed similar boards based in Japan, most notably 2Chan, the board after which Poole modeled 4Chan.
Christopher Poole, known as “moot” and the founder of 4Chan
2Chan was the brainchild of Hiroyuki Nishimura, a wealthy Japanese investor and the President of “Zero Group Ltd,” which according to its website specializes in foreign technology exports and the automotive industry.
Nishimura is also the “director” of Mirai Kensaku’s Brazilian branch, a company which provides “banking” and “technology” services to Brazil, including the production of video games:
A profile of his work at Mirai Kensaku from their website
Until 2013, Nishimura was a Director at NicoNico, which is one of the largest video sharing websites in the world (according to Alexa, it is the 8th most visited website in Japan and the 90th most visited in the world).
Hiroyuki Nishimura
In September 2015, Nishimura purchased 4Chan from Poole for an undisclosed amount of money. Poole disappeared but is said to now work for Google in an undisclosed position.
We know for a fact that 4Chan has been used to promote nationalism in the USA and abroad.
We know that anime is a central extension of promoting Japanese nationalism as part of domestic and foreign policy.
We know that that Trump is allowing for and assisting with the remilitarization and re-armament of Japan.
We know that Japan is the great power of East Asia who, like Germany, constantly talks about rebuilding her empire.
We have warned that robots are not simply tools to be used for a man’s pleasure, but for military purposes, and major billionaires declare that he who controls robots and AI will rule the world.
We know that robotics and AI are behind the abortion industry as part of genetic experiments for cyborgs, and Turkey is planning along with Germany and Japan to use killer robots to carry out their future war plans. That is, of course, if the robots don’t turn against their handlers, because the scientists behind the robots and AI who develop the technology do not understand how it truly works.
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This anime robot being shown for “entertainment” purposes is not about entertainment. This is about preparing the way for the public acceptance of killer robotics. They are the next wave of war weapons that, just like what the machine gun did for World War I and the atom bomb in World War II, so will the robot do for World War III.
The bonds which the US and her allies placed Germany and Japan into- by necessity- are being loosed by the Americans and Israelis in the name of mammon. .
This war is being prepared- right now. The rearmament is happening. The anime, which was once used as a vehicle to promote Japanese nationalism, is being used again for the same reason. The time has changed as well as have the weapons to be used in war, but the message has not. Instead of cinemas and private showings, beyond television, there is the Internet and major outlets with a history of promoting anime, such as 4Chan, comic books, and as we have noted before, anime pornography (hentai).
It’s not an accident that 4Chan was used to revive American nationalism- because it’s owned by the Japanese who are using it for their ends.
The emperor stirs…
