One of the best known robot animations is “Gundam” in Japan. I am a Gundam Otaku(geek) since I was at age 8. I have build tons of Gundam plastic models and it is still one of my hobbies. The reason why I got interested in AI is Gundam, and it was my first time to hear the word, artificial intelligence, in my life. It is the only mobile-suits that processes AI.

Gundam series has started in 1979, known as “The first Gundam”, and now there are 23 series of Gundams for total, including TV anime and moveis.

I will talk about Gundam series more in the future, but this time, I will introduce a paradise for all Gundam geeks in the world. I have been dreaming to visit this place for very long time.

It is located on “Odaiba, Diver City”, called “Gundam Front Tokyo”.

View Larger Map

Google Map embedding does not show it correctly, the link below is better.

link to Google Map.

When you get near Diver city, the  1/1 size of “first gundam” welcomes you.

Getting closer.

Gundam Front Tokyo is on 8th floor of Diver city, which the web site does not clearly explain the floor it is located. The entrance ticket is 1000 yen and you need to pay extra for special areas.

Here is the few pictures of inside of Gumdam front Tokyo.

There is a area called “Gumpra Tokyo” (Gumdam plastic model Tokyo) which more than 1000 of Gumdam plastic models are displayed.

and 1/1 size “Core Fighter” and 1/7500 size of A Baoa Qu in the first series.

1/1 size of Strike-Freedom Gumdam, you can go to the cockpit and take a photo. It is not free.

There are shopping areas that you can get varieties of Gumdam goodies.

For more info,

http://gundamfront-tokyo.com/en/ 

Japan is a county facing natural disasters often such as Typhoon, earthquake, and recently the snow. Tokyo, very clouded city which has 6,000/km2 (16,000/sq mi) population density, is the worst city for natural disasters because of its infrastructure and population density. When it snow, lots of systems stop working such as transportation systems. Not only the natural disasters, but also air pollution, pollen in the spring (Now), PM2.5 from China and flu cause life difficult. For PM2.5 from China, there is a great we page shows distribution prediction map of PM2.5. http://guide.tenki.jp/guide/particulate_matter/

What can we do?? We need a MASK!!!

During the winter season, (January, February, and March) in Japan, you will find something strange. Many people wear a mask in big cities.

Preventing flu and airborne diseases are very important in the areas,places that have high population density.
Main trains in Tokyo are usually packed especially during the commuter times.
This is the Tokyo tradition like traffics in LA called “満員電車 /manin densha/ (full train)”.

Then what do I need to buy? Well, mask is just a mask.  No, there are varieties of maks sold at convenience store with Japanese technologies. These are the masks in Japan

There are masks for men and women, with menthol, different types of shapes and sizes and with moisture retention.

The market size of Japanese mask industry was about 180 million dollars in 2012 and still growing.

When you have a chance to visit Japan, finding your the best matched mask would be fun to do.