Tokyo Day 2009 Exhibition in London
After being slightly delayed by the snow (yes, I’m definitely slipping into English habits - even buying cards for every occasion…) I’m finally getting back to the Tokyo Day even in London which I have attended on Saturday, 31st of January 2009.
As both my partner and I are quite keen on Japan and Japanese culture we thought it might be a good opportunity to experience a bit of it first hand and learn a few things on the way. Definitely the mention of robots helped make up our minds… Also considering the admission was free we had nothing to lose.
Japanese Robots
Just as you entered the exhibition you were “greeted” by Mega Robo:
The robot would say a few welcoming words while simultaneously mimicking human natural movement and emotional expressions. Obviously no one would be fooled into thinking it’s a living being, however the efforts were still quite impressive.
Just next was a stand with two very cute iDogs, one with girly pink swirls all over, while the other one just pure white.
Following was something I was most impressed with. The tiny i-Sobot - the world’s smallest humanoid robot. There were two of them on display, with remotes actually available to the audience. Unfortunately the controllers had kids constantly glued to them, so it was nearly impossible to have a go for an adult.
Nevertheless the i-Sobots could perform quite a few tricks like walk, dance and perform martial arts moves, and best of all they could lie down, and then stand up on their own!
The last robot on display was the rolling speaker-ball called Miuro. Personally I found it an interesting concept, though I struggled to find a real life application, other than the first minutes of watching the thing bouncing around the floor…
Information about Japan and the Olympics
Apart from looking at different aspects of Japanese culture you could read quite a lot about many topics like tourism, geography, Tokyo’s public transport, cuisine, city attractions, landmarks worth visiting, and more.
I really liked the way all this information was presented. Big boards hanging on lit walls, illustrated with beautiful photographs. There were plenty of details about the Tokyo’s bid at hosting the Olympics, to quote from the event’s website:
“Tokyo has been chosen as a Candidate City to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This panel exhibition showcases Tokyo’s plan to host the world’s most environmentally friendly and compact Games at the heart of the city, which maximises Japan’s renowned cutting-edge technologies.”
Stage Events
Unfortunately I haven’t seen all of the performances, as we arrived quite late during the day, however what I have seen was interesting and novel to see live, rather than on a tv screen. These included traditional music and dancing, Wadaiko and the dragon dance.
- Traditional Japanese Music
- Traditional Japanese Dance
Origami
The Origami workshop was the one that did not require signing up in advance. Several tables were available with square bits of colourful paper scattered around. Apart from the penguin, which you have already seen in my previous post there were several other patterns available, like for example the Balloon:
… and the Samurai Kabuto Helmet:
… and a Crane:
… and finally something we got a demonstration of, as there was no instructions available, the two colour Ninja Shuriken:
Tea Ceremony & Calligraphy
Unfortunately Calligraphy was so popular we had no chance of getting in. You can just see a snapshot from the Calligraphy corner:
The other available workshop was the Tea Ceremony. And you guessed it, that was all booked too, unfortunately we didn’t even manage to catch a photo.
Arts & Crafts
The exhibition also had an interesting display of art, as per the official website:
“This exhibition features 24 colour woodblock prints selected from four
different series by Hokusai, including the famous 36 Views of Mount
Fuji, as well as vivid sketches from the Hokusai Manga collection. The
prints, skilfully reproduced by contemporary master craftsmen, provide
fascinating insights into the landscapes and lifestyles of old Tokyo
(Edo).”
When it comes to crafts there was a beautiful display of hair ornaments made from material into amazing flower like patterns.
