Zookeepers at the Tama Zoo and the Ueno Zoo, both in Tokyo, undergo annual training in what to do if an animal escapes. Although the training is serious business, it appears ridiculous to onlookers because they cannot use real animals. This year’s escaped animal drill at the Ueno Zoo featured a papier mâché rhinoceros. It appears to be the same fake rhino they used for the drill in 2008. Link -via Arbroath

See also: the Ueno Zoo’s zebra drill and the tiger drill at the Tama Zoo.

This is not the sort of place you’ll want to take your grandma for lunch, this is the Capcom Bar, a themed restaurant which will feature food and desserts styled after video games. Video games and food-two great things that go great together!

So, there’s Resident Evil brain cakes, Monster Hunter well done meat, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney make-it-black-and-white seafood cream pasta, all of which can be enjoyed while playing an assortment of Capcom’s video games and enjoying the festive atmosphere of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Link

The daily commute got a lot more interesting recently when life sized lightsaber hand rails that actually light up were installed in Tokyo trains to promote the Star Wars: The Complete Saga DVD release.

If they’d been installed in trains in America’s major cities, they would have been summarily ripped off and sold on craigslist Ebay, so I doubt we’ll see a promotion as cool as this in the U.S. any time soon. Head over to the link to see what Japanese commuters thought of this bold promotional gimmick.

Link -via DesignTaxi

Tokyo artists Sagaki Keita creates fine art from hundreds of tiny drawings, like this rendition of the “Great Wave off Kanagawa.” The smaller drawings are sometimes silly or sinister, but each is balanced perfectly in light and dark to create the overall image. Keita doesn’t only reproduce  famous works, though his Mona Lisa is spot-on–he has a full gallery of original works all created in the same manner. Link – via WebUrbanist

The Tama Zoo and the Ueno Zoo (both in Tokyo) perform annual training drills so that zookeepers know what to do when an animal escapes. Since they cannot use a dangerous beast, workers dress as the escapee, which gives zoo visitors and web surfers an entertaining interlude. The drill this week at the Tama Zoo featured a Siberian tiger who got out of its pen during an earthquake. -via Pink Tentacle

Previously: Rhino and Zebra drills.

In a land of high-tech toilet and strange robots, a regular ol’ vending machine just won’t do. So behold, the vending machine in subway stations in Tokyo that uses 47-inch touchscreen panel to sell you drinks:

A 47-inch touchscreen panel dominates the front of this beast,
which shows two tall eyes when in sleep mode and switches to the storefront mode, which displays available drinks (and hides ones that are sold out, so that no ugly red “Sold out” buttons appear). Payment can be made in the traditional hard money method, as well as with a Suica or a FeliCa on a cell phone.

What makes this vending machine even more interesting is that there is a camera above the screen that determines the age and gender of a person standing in front of it, which the machine uses to “subtly” offer demographically-targeted drink selections, as well as collect marketing data based on customer’s actual choices – no identifiable images or information are stored.

Akihabara News has the story (and video clip): Link – via Core77

Previously on Neatorama: Strange and Wonderful Vending Machines

Fuyuhito Moriya, 39, lives with his mother in a custom-built home set on a lot that’s only 30 square meters. It used to be a parking space. Moriya spent $500,000 constructing a compact three-story house on the site:

South-facing, large windows create the illusion of space. Minimal furniture and clutter keep the small home tidy. Hideaway cabinets for kitchen appliances and half size sinks shrink expected space.

Even the spiral staircase shaves inches, drawn as a triangle instead of a circle, slashing the space’s diameter. The corners of the staircase become small closets, to stash shoes.

“Every single corner is used,” says Moriya.

Link via Technabob

The Gundam Building in Tokyo is deliberately designed to look like a Gundam. It houses the Aoyama Technical College. Makoto Sei Watanabe built it in 1990 as a vision of what he saw as the future of urban architecture.

Link via DVICE | Photo by the architect

Artist TokyoGenso illustrates the city of Tokyo as it would appear after humans have been wiped out. Mother Nature gradually moves in, takes over, and tears the evidence of civilization apart. This picture depicts Haneda Airport; see more at Pink Tentacle. Link -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!

Samuel Cockedey, has been kind enough to give me a heads up whenever he had a time-lapse video for you Neatoramanuats in the past and so it was great when he contacted me recently to tell me he’s got one hot off the hard drive! A little slower paced than his previous works it still has plenty of amazing shots of the Tokyo skyline and city.

A photographer and a video artist hailing from France, Samuel has been living and working in Tokyo since 2000 and films and edits these videos as a hobby of his on the weekends. When I asked him why he takes time-lapse videos of the skyline of Tokyo instead of hitting the streets and getting the human element he said,

“I like wide shots because they’re more cinematic and more surreal. From afar it almost looks like an alien planet or colony, it leaves more to the imagination. I tend to find street shots more trivial, less dreamy and exciting.”

You can see his other videos that we have up here on Neatorama just below:

Static : Pulse – Link
(autumn) – Link
Remanence : Variance – Link

Samual Cockedey’s Website – Link

Tokyo/Glow is a short film about the lighted figure in a crosswalk sign. He escapes from the confines of his box and walks about the city of Tokyo at night. He moves slowly, taking in the city as it flashes around him at high speed. Written and directed by Jonathan Bensimon.

via Pink Tentacle

You’ll be on video at Narita International Airport in Tokyo, but not for security purposes. An infrared camera scans incoming international passengers looking for people who may have a fever! Those who show signs of a fever are interviewed and may be given medical treatment. Link

(image credit: Lazlo Thoth)

Entrepreneurs in Tokyo have developed “capsule” hotels with coffin-like cubicles for those needing shelter.  They aren’t free:

The rent is surprisingly high for such a small space: 59,000 yen a month, or about $640, for an upper bunk. But with no upfront deposit or extra utility charges, and basic amenities like fresh linens and free use of a communal bath and sauna, the cost is far less than renting an apartment in Tokyo, Mr. Nakanishi says.

The concept was originally developed to accommodate travelers in airports or those stranded without transportation, but now they are being rented by the month, and long-term users are registering the sites as their official “home.”

Link.  Photo credit Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

The Tama Zoo in Tokyo has unveiled their new snow leopard cub named Yukichi. The male cub was born on July 2nd. He is the fourth cub born to his mother Yuki and the first for his father Valdemar. And he’s adorable! Link

A rescue robot that picks up victims and takes them inside of itself. What could possibly go wrong?

The Robocue is operated by the Tokyo Fire Department and used to extract people from areas where rescue workers can’t go safely. It then uses pincers to pull a person on to a conveyor belt and inside its protective walls. Video at the link.

Link

Photographer Thomas Birke went to Japan in 2008 to take photos of "the future" – and he didn’t go away disappointed. Thomas’ large format photography reveals how much Tokyo resembles the dystopian future city in Blade Runner.

Dark Roasted Blend has the exclusive: Link

To celebrate the anime Mobile Suit Gundam’s 30th anniversary, Japan is building a life-size RX-78-2 Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo. From Anime News Network:

The statue will be free for viewing, but it will only stay up for two months. It will be built with fiberglass-reinforced plastic over a steel frame so it can be disassembled later. The head unit will move and the body will have 50 points that will emit light. Mist can shoot forth from 14 locations on the body. The park is just four trains stops from Tokyo Big Sight, the home of the Comic Market dojinshi convention and the Gundam Big Expo convention that will be held from August 21 to August 23. Bandai NAMCO Group is still determining what to do with the statue after its allotted two months in the park are over.

As you can see, the mecha is almost done. Just in time to deal with the shenanigans over at North Korea, too! Moé passion blog has more pics: Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Frau.

Back in April we had put up a time lapse video clip by Samuel Cockedey called Remanence : Variance and folks seemed to have enjoyed watching it. Samuel, was kind enough to have contacted Neatorama recently with the news that he had just created a new video for us to watch hot off the proverbial presses.

The video shot in gorgeous HD is a lot more cinematic with grand vistas of Tokyo, various shots of the city coming alive with the buzzing traffic and buildings lighting up. My favourite part of the video has got to be the shot he has at the 1:00 mark with the clouds storming in over the city

* It goes without saying you gotta watch this in HD. You can either hit the expand button on the video as it plays (for full screen viewing) or head to the Vimeo link below the clip to watch it in a larger size.

Check out his site here – Link

Here is quite an amazing and beautifully rendered video shot in Tokyo by Samuel Cockedey.

Shot over the span of a year with Canon DSLRs (mostly 350d), processed with Lightroom (raw files color adjustment and resizing)/VirtualDub (deshaker/deflicker filters)/Sony Vegas (editing). Original rendered in 1080p.

Also, check out some of his other work on his website which are also just as fascinating as this. As well, I highly suggest you check the video out in HD.

Link – Samuel Cockedey’s Website

TGIF!

My hat is off to the folks at Bandai – the Japanese toymaker has created a speaker with a diorama of Tokyo’s Ginza district, back in the days (like 1955, dudes). Behold, the Bandai Diorama Speaker:

The 2×1W speaker comes with moving parts, sound effects and a bunch of LED lights. Only 2000 copies have been made and the price is ¥198,000 (about $2,200 USD).

Link – via GeekAlerts

“The website says the “dad” will help the children with their homework. He will sort out problems with the neighbors. He will take the kids to a barbecue or to a park. He could also appear at the daunting interview with a nursery school head teacher which parents are required to endure in order to persuade the principal to give their child a good start in life.”

While one hopes they check all the actors to make sure they aren’t sex offenders, I think there’s a much bigger concern here. Have our lives really gotten so empty that we must rent relationships rather than forging our own? And how long until this service comes to the states? I’ve really wanted to have a family reunion, but don’t feel like actually contacting all of my distant relatives.

Link Via TokyoMango