Comments on: Vintage androids

Vintage androids

nickyskye — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 16:51:52 -0800

Karakuri automata are representative of the highest technology in the Edo period (1603 to 1867). Automata were also crafted hundreds of years ago in Europe: The Dulcimer Player by Pierre Kintzing , made in 1772; The Singing Lesson, created by Robert-Houdin; three androids by Jaquet-Droz; the Pooping Duck by Vaucanson (the first link at the top). Ancient robots. The first automaton was created by Al-Jazari: video of his clock. The history of automata [pdf]. Contemporary toy automata. [more inside]

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 16:52:18 -0800

The Cabaret Mechanical Theatre offers nicely designed card cutout automata. On the Karakuriya.com site there are also amazing Karakuri chests. (The video on that page is worth watching).

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 17:11:16 -0800

Delightful! Nice post, nickyskye. The little fellow doing backflips down the stairs (at 2:33 on the Karakuri ningyo clip) brought a smile, and reminded me of my old childhood Slinky going down the staircase.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 18:10:11 -0800

This is very cool.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 18:35:21 -0800

Great post, nickyskye, thanks!

By: squasha

squasha — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:04:53 -0800

Well, there goes my afternoon. I thank you, nickyskye, but the students for whom I was supposed to be preparing English lessons are going to have a vastly different topic to discuss this evening!

By: spiderskull

spiderskull — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 01:20:59 -0800

Great post! This is fascinating...

By: StrangerInAStrainedLand

StrangerInAStrainedLand — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 02:16:03 -0800

I had just assumed that the contemporary Japanese fascination with robots was mostly a sign of the times, a quirky side effect of their electronic industry's strength. Not so, it appears. Also, plus some extra gratitude for this not being an obit.

By: zapatosunidos

zapatosunidos — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 04:16:21 -0800

During my tenure at Toshiba a few years ago, we were shown an internal promotional/insprirational video with dolls of this type and a master craftsman manipulating them. It was amazing then as now. The implication was that Toshiba founders were somehow involved in the creation of these dolls before bringing whatever passed as "high technology" to the masses. Does anybody know whether that link is real or concocted for rah-rah effect?

By: zapatosunidos

zapatosunidos — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 04:23:51 -0800

Apparently, it was an external campaign as well. Can't find any links to the video, though.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 08:25:27 -0800

zapatosunidos, In 1882 Tanaka Engineering Works was founded by Daikichi Tanaka. He was the leading apprentice to Hisashige (1799-1880), who was one of the three great Karakuri automata masters. Tanaka Engineering Works was the forerunner of Toshiba. In describing the first Karakuri tea carrying automaton I found this fun snippet from TeamDroid: The driving force of the original tea-carrying doll came from a spring made of whale whiskers (actually whale teeth). All the other components, such as its gears, body and escapement for speed adjustments, were made of wood. How does it work? When a tea cup is placed on the tray, the stopper is released by the whale spring attached to the doll's arms; the spring forces the stopper to engage again when the cup is lifted from the tray. (Apparently whale whiskers were used for bowstrings, Samurai sword handles, bunraku puppets, portable pillows, horse whips, furniture and rulers for measuring cloth. I didn't know whales had whiskers.) Also just found an online store, Karakuri Corner, which sells a variety of Karakuri automata with little videos of them in action and more detailed information about each one.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 09:19:44 -0800

Tanaka Engineering Works was the forerunner of Toshiba. Ha! That's perfect.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:01:48 -0800

The Kanakuri automata masters were incredible inventors. The etymology of the name Toshiba is this: The Kanakuri automata master, Hisashige's successor, "Hisashige Tanaka II, established Tanaka Seisakujo and produced measuring devices, home appliances, machine tools, cables and iron bridges. Tanaka Seisakujo became Shibaura Seisakujo and then Tokyo Shibaura Seisakujo, which led to the current name Toshiba."

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:28:08 -0800

*Karakuri, not Kanakuri.

By: azuresunday

azuresunday — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 17:04:07 -0800

I think the "whale whiskers" are actually baleen. Also, a great place to see katakuri in action is Takayama, which has a museum with regular demonstrations and a cool-looking festival.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 13:23:24 -0800

Thanks for the great additional link azuresunday. Yes, you're right about the baleen but whale whiskers was a delightful thought for a minute.

By: squidlarkin

squidlarkin — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:09:44 -0800

Hey cool, I was wondering what the karakuroids in Shiren were supposed to be.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:46:56 -0800

What a fabulous post, nickyskye, thanks! A marvelous collection of fascinating links - this will keep me occupied for hours!

By: y2karl

y2karl — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 22:10:16 -0800

A Sisyphusian but pleasantly Sisyphusian task indeed.