TacoCat’s Travels #269 (Tokyo): Exploring the Giant Gundam Factory! 🤖

11 days ago · 11 min read · Yokohama

Hey Hive!

Sorry it's been a while but we had a lot going on over Christmas and New Years'! But we had a lot of fun with overseas friends visiting us for a bit before we took off on another trip to a new city!

We had so much fun and I can't wait to share about our trip some time in the future! In the meantime, let's continue on with our anniversary trip to Tokyo back in Feb 2023! It'd been at least 3 years since we visited Tokyo and the last time was pre-covid so we decided to go back and find some new places to explore while revisiting our favourite hot-spots.

3 Feb 2023. Friday.

Last time, we left off in Yokohama where we briefly went past Chinatown.

We went to visit one of our favourite places - this large park right near Chinatown beside the pier, because it's a hot spot for doggos to walk and play!

We saw quite a few people walking their doggos and they were all having a good time, hoomans and doggos alike!

But the real reason we came here was to visit the new Gundam Factory, which houses an 18-metre tall Gundam!

We're not avid fans of Gundam, but having been to Japan quite a few times we've been exposed to the Gundam franchise quite a bit. Besides, it's not every day you get to see a 6-storey Gundam!

It was truly remarkable to see it in person! It felt like it could come to life at any time and just walk off to fight Godzilla or something. It was definitely worth the trip out here. Shortly after we arrived one of the performances started!

Unfortunately, when we arrived he was already out of his station and after the performance it looked like he was going to sleep. But it was still fairly early so we had hope the next one would be more interesting.

In the meantime, we went to check out the other amenities they had in the Gundam Factory. I covered what the second floor was like in the previous post, which was mainly the cafe.

So now it's time to check out the Gundam shop, called Gundam Base. We thought it would be a lot more crowded than it was, but I guess it would be more popular on the weekends.

As expected, the Gundam Base had plenty of Gundam models for sale for fans to buy whichever they wanted to build.

There were quite a lot of variations, from small ones to bigger and more detailed models.

I can see this place being heaven for people who are big fans of the franchise.

Of course they did have the model version of the big Gundam outside since he's the most classic model.

There were quite a few variations of him. I'm not sure if these were special editions that were only sold at this store but I can see them having exclusive items like that since this is the only Gundam Factory in the world.

There were a lot of other models as well, of his Gundam friends. Some I actually recognised from when I used to watch my brother play this Gundam fighting game on PS1.

They also had some standard merchandise and souvenirs for regular tourists like cookies and candies in these Gundam boxes.

They had lifestyle and apparel souvenirs as well of course, like masks, tote bags and T-shirts.

Since we're not really Gundam fans, the shop didn't have anything that really appealed to us. It would've been cool if they had a special refrigerator magnet though, but unfortunately not.

Outside the shop, there was a popcorn machine that had such a pleasant buttery sweet aroma that was very tempting, especially since it was warm too. But we resisted the urge to buy it since it was a little overpriced.

The only place we had left to check out was called the Academy, which houses the information on the behind-the-scenes of how they made this huge Gundam.

Thankfully they had English translations here as well, so non-Japanese visitors can read and understand all the hard work put into this huge project (literally).

There was a message by the leader behind this project, along with his professional profile detailing his educational background and career history. I guess to inspire kids who want to be like him and build a giant Gundam?

Of course, making this full-scale Gundam was a colossal project and could not be accomplished by one company alone. Nine elite companies came together as technical partners and there was information on what each company was responsible for in the Gundam.

There was also information on the specific leaders and some Q&A with them on the challenges they faced in building this giant, moving Gundam.

There was also some brief Q&A with other experts involved in the project as well, and I was personally glad to see a lady among them as well.

This Gundam won two Guinness World Record in 2020, one for being the largest mobile humanoid robot, and one for the largest mobile Gundam. I'm not sure what the difference is but I guess it being humanoid was extra special since it's harder to build such a large scale structure standing on two legs.

In fact, they had a whole section of the Academy dedicated to explaining the difficulty in making it move like a human.

This board talks about why it's difficult to get a robot to move like a human, i.e. moving the arms and legs at the same time. Basically the reason is due to the weight of the robot, and at that height making it move would require a lot of strength and power. So unfortunately they couldn't make the Gundam walk independently on two legs with the current technology.

There was also this robot on display that was actually moving around and building something, with a mini scale version of the factory below him.

It was quite cool seeing him work, and it actually reminded me of R.O.B. from the NES.

For this project they actually gathered ideas from around the world, and received proposals from ten countries! Four ideas were selected and the people who submitted them joined the project. In the end however, none of the ideas were directly adopted for this model but may be used in the future.

There were some small scale models of the Gundam that were probably the prototypes they developed while working on this project.

This board is comparing a robot and a human, identifying what parts move where and how they could translate human movements to a robot. I could see them doing a presentation just on this alone during the ideation process.

Here are some interactive exhibits on how they could get the robot to move.I think you could turn the cranks to make the model move. I'm glad they kept these early prototypes so people could actually see them in person.

This series of boards talks about the actual giant moving Gundam and the actualisation process, as well as the rejected ideas for his movement.

I like how they actually compared the robot to the human skeleton and probably used a skeleton as a framework to build him. seeing this also reminds me of Attack on Titan and if they actually made a giant Titan in the future I think it would be super cool but also quite terrifying.

Here is a small scale version of the Gundam in his loading dock. It actually looks quite cute in there, like he's in his little house.

This talks about the daily maintenance works involved in maintaining the Gundam, like checking for adequate lubrication in the moving parts. It's especially important since the Gundam is outside and exposed to different weather conditions given the seasonal changes.

These boards explain the technical engineering behind the Gundam's movement, using a reduction gear and a motor. It must be an incredible feat of technology that they created. You can tell this probably took a lot of engineering geniuses but I'm glad they dumbed it down in this exhibition so even kids could understand.

There was a display of different variations in the model for this Gundam. I'm not sure if they're actual legit models from the franchise but I guess they must be. They look quite similar but there are subtle differences in the torso and heads.

These boards compares the Gundam to familiar things like cars to measure the Gundam's height and weight, and the human body when considering the movement. I like how they liken the Gundam's motor to the human heart.

There was a interactive monitor with a 3D rendering of the Gundam simulating the different movement courses like his posing and motions.

There was also a livestream of the Gundam outside so you could still view it from indoors. This is useful for when it rains and visitors need to hide out in the shelter. That would be a bummer though if you came by and it rained.

I think this is the only section of the Academy that actually shows Gundam lore.

And we end off with a message for the future, to go and enjoy the Gundam franchise that has being ongoing since 1979!

It was a very educational experience going through the Academy, and I can see a lot of young kids getting inspired to take up engineering if they're big fans of Gundam and see this. That is, of course if they actually took the time to read or watch the videos.

After we finished looking through the Academy, we were just in time for the next performance! So the last time we saw the Gundam, he was sleeping in the loading dock and now it was time for him to wake up!

Here's a video that I fast-forwarded since the whole performance is actually about 7 minutes in real time.

https://youtube.com/shorts/unGERUfx8sM

But he ends with this pose which I thought looks super cool! I'm not sure if it's a classic Gundam pose but it must be the one that is most feasible for a giant moving robot.

They had some food trucks and tables and chairs so people could sit and watch the performance but they're actually quite a distance away from the Gundam.

I was sorely tempted to try pulling the Gundam gachapon after coming out here but it was quite pricey and they didn't have a special one unfortunately.

Hope you enjoyed our look through the Gundam Factory since it's now permanently closed, unfortunately. Thankfully we managed to visit a month prior!

We ended the day with some delicious steak at our favourite Japanese steakhouse - Ikinari Steak!

I've written about this place before but Ikinari Steak is always a must-eat every time we come to Japan because it's too good!

Unfortunately it was quite crowded when we went there, I think due to the limited capacity in the restaurant so we had to wait quite a bit. I was getting quite hangry by the time we were seated. xD

Here's the menu; they have quite a few different cuts to choose from.

This particular outlet is quite small with only bar seating and the kitchen was fairly close and open.

We ordered the sirloin and tenderloin steak and they both came topped with some garlic butter and garlic chips, with a side of steamed veggies and onions.

I honestly can't tell which is which but they were both really delicious and tender! It was so worth the wait!

They also have a signature sauce you can drizzle on top of the meat for some extra flavour but honestly the meat on it's own is already really delicious. The sauce is a bonus though.