The face that launched a thousand robots

I recently visited the Osaka Science Museum, where a new working replica of Japan's first modern robot has been put on display.

The quirky machine is called Gakutensoku, and it was originally created in 1928 by a biologist named Makoto Nishimura (pictured below). According to accounts, the massive Buddha-like robot could write Chinese characters, puff out its cheeks as though breathing and look up to the heavens for inspiration. It apparently disappeared while on a tour of Germany in the 1930s.

Here's an excerpt of an article I wrote for the Japan Times on it:

"R.U.R." was staged in Tokyo in 1924; in 1927, Fritz Lang's film "Metropolis" with its evil robot Maria opened overseas; and in Britain and the U.S. respectively, two early mechanical men were unveiled as curiosities.

The former was called Eric and resembled a suit of armor; it could stand up from its seat and relay the voice of a remote operator to "speak" to audiences. Westinghouse Electric Corp.'s Mr. Televox consisted of telephone-switching equipment and a crude cardboard anthropomorphic frame. It was able to activate electrical equipment upon receiving commands made on a whistle.

These early robots in science fiction and reality prompted discussion among Japanese intellectuals. When Nishimura learned that the Mainichi Shimbun would mount an exhibit at the 1928 Kyoto Fair, he suggested building a jinzo ningen (artificial human), as robots were first called in Japan.

But instead of being a synthetic slave worker like Capek's robots, it would be an artistic statement.