Robot museum, dep't store to open in Oct.

A robot museum and robot department store are set to open in Nagoya in October, according to robot magazine publisher GyroWalk, one of the operators. The museum, Japan's first dedicated to robots, will be in the city's bustling Sakae area and will have four zones: an exhibition space called Robothink that will have new and old robots in educational, interactive displays, a "Robot Future Department Store," a shop area, and a restaurant area.

Osaka-based GyroWalk, which also operates retailer Robo Cafe, expects some 400,000 visitors a year at the Robot Museum in Nagoya. It says the venture is aimed at "the experience and fun of living with robots." That was a recurring theme at the insanely popular 2005 Aichi Expo, which was held outside Nagoya and drew 22 million. The city was chosen as a location for the museum because of the robot fervor generated by the expo as well as its history of prowess in manufacturing and craftsmanship. No word yet on whether any of the region's famed karakuri ningyo wooden automatons, featured prominently in Loving the Machine, will be included.