Pink Tentacle



Kyoteizinc: Chiptune disco video (May 8)
Omodaka, a creative project adopting a self-described “trial and error process of mutational fusion of music and motion graphics,” has a new video for chiptune disco track “Kyoteizinc,” which features the captivating computer-tweaked dance of Masako Yasumoto. (Watch it.) The video is directed by Hiroshi Kizu. Omodaka is on Tokyo-based independent label Far East Recording.


Kintaro ukiyo-e prints (May 2)
Kintaro (a.k.a. “Golden Boy”), a popular child folk hero embodying strength and bravery, appears in statues, storybooks, anime, manga, noh, kabuki and candy. He was also the subject of numerous Edo-period woodblock prints. Various legends say that Kintaro was raised by a Yamamba ogress in the mountains, where he learned to communicate with animals. In [...]


Video: Space boomerang (May 1)
JAXA has finally gotten around to releasing video of astronaut Takao Doi’s successful space boomerang toss conducted inside the International Space Station’s Harmony Module in March. (Watch it.) [Source: JAXA via IT Media]


Kaibo Zonshinzu anatomy scrolls (1819) (Apr 25)
The Kaibo Zonshinzu anatomy scrolls, painted in 1819 by Kyoto-area physician Yasukazu Minagaki (1784-1825), consist of beautifully realistic, if not gruesome, depictions of scientific human dissection. Unlike European anatomical drawings of the time, which tended to depict the corpse as a living thing devoid of pain (and often in some sort of Greek pose), these realistic [...]


80-year-old Gakutensoku robot revived (w/video) (Apr 25)
New life has been breathed into Asia’s oldest “modern” robot, an 80-year-old golden-skinned humanoid from Osaka. Gakutensoku, a 3.2 meter (10 ft 6 in) tall automaton powered by compressed air, can tilt its head, move its eyes, smile, and puff up its cheeks and chest as instructed — just as it did 80 years ago [...]


NTT Firmo transmits data through skin (Apr 24)
NTT has begun selling a device that transmits data across the surface of the human body and lets users communicate with electronic devices simply by touching them, the company announced on April 23. The new product, called “Firmo,” consists of a card-sized transmitter carried in the user’s pocket. The card converts stored data into a [...]


Video: WABOT-2 android plays keyboard (1985) (Apr 22)
WABOT-2, an intelligent humanoid keyboard player developed by Waseda University in the 1980s, was considered the most advanced robot of its time. In addition to camera eyes that could read musical notation and deft hands that could tap out tunes of average difficulty, WABOT-2 could listen to accompanying singers and adjust its tempo, as well [...]


Kage-e: Shadow pictures (Apr 18)
Kage-e (”shadow pictures”) — a popular form of Edo-period woodblock print — were appreciated by children and adults and commonly used as party gags. These pictures consist of two parts: a “shadow” image and a “real” image. The shadow image, which typically bears the shape of a common, easily identifiable object, is viewed first. The [...]


Japan?s cyborg research enters the skull (Apr 17)
Researchers at Osaka University are stepping up efforts to develop robotic body parts controlled by thought, by placing electrode sheets directly on the surface of the brain. Led by Osaka University Medical School neurosurgery professor Toshiki Yoshimine, the research marks Japan’s first foray into invasive (i.e. requiring open-skull surgery) brain-machine interface research on human test [...]


Bento lunches decorated as album covers (Apr 16)
Food hackers at Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box cut and arrange ordinary bento lunch box ingredients to recreate famous album covers. Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire: Egg, paprika, nori (seaweed sheet), kamaboko (fish sausage), carrot, potato, ham, black sesame, rice Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland: Nori, paprika (red & orange), egg, rice Aphex Twin - Richard [...]