Interest
Life-Size Gundam Statue Returns to Tokyo ... in Parts
posted on by Egan Loo
The official portal site for the Gundam anime franchise announced on Thursday that the life-size statue of the title robot Gundam will return to Tokyo after two years — in disassembled parts. "Odaiba Gundam Project 2011" will bring back the parts of the Gundam from August 13 to August 21.
The organizers note that the disassembled display will allow visitors to see parts up close that they could not see when the statue was looming 18 meters (about 59 feet) tall in 2009. In addition, visitors can touch the statue's right hand and even sit in it.
Admission to the event at Symbol Promenade Park on Tokyo's artificial island of Odaiba is 500 yen (US$6), although it is free for preschoolers. A portion of the proceeds will go to charities for victims of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake (Higashi Nihon Daishinsai) disaster.
The life-size statue first stood at Odaiba in July of 2009 and attracted 4.15 million visitors before it closed the following month. The statue rose again in Shizuoka — the self-described "model capital of the world" and the home of Bandai's plastic model factories — from July of last year to March of this year.
Images © Sotsu, Sunrise
Update: More background information added.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history