A brightly illustrated book examines Japan's obsession with robots. STEPHANIE HOO flips through 'Loving the Machine.'
A replica of Japan's first modern robot, which was built in 1928 and could write Chinese characters using air pressure, gears and pulleys. (AP Photo/HO/Kodansha America)
"Loving the Machine" by Timothy Hornyak documents Japan's robot obsession. (AP Photo/HO/Kodansha America)
Ever wish there was a robot that could fetch your morning latte? Wait at home for the cable guy to show up? Even tell you the weather report and your horoscope each morning?
If you've dreamt it, Japan has probably already invented it.
"Japan is known as the Robot Kingdom," says Timothy Hornyak, author of the glossy illustrated book "Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots."
"It's on the cutting edge of robotics, around the world."
Japan has embraced robots like no place else on earth, says Hornyak, who hails from Montreal, Canada, and has lived in Japan since 1999.
"I really wanted to understand why Japanese seem to have this close relationship with robots, unlike some people in other countries," he says. "Why they tend to see robots as friends and partners instead of adversaries or potential Terminators or something like that."
His book details the rise of Japan's robot culture, from medieval puppet dolls to the animated Astro Boy of the 1950s to the robot dogs and robot news anchors of today.
It's a fascinating history, rendered in words and bright photographs. As early as the 17th Century, Japanese inventors had created rudimentary robots that used air pressure, gears and pulleys to serve tea, blow darts and write with a brush and ink.
Today's robots can come equipped with wireless Internet, giving them access to weather and news reports. Others can housesit by relaying images to cell phones. Still others imitate dogs or baby seals, offering companionship to the elderly.
Robots combine Japan's love of novelty with its fixation on cuteness, Hornyak says. In the U.S., by contrast, science fiction tales often depict robots as menacing machines that can run amok and turn on their creators, in the Frankenstein motif.
But since Japan has few natural resources, "faith in technology and manufacturing among the Japanese is so prevalent," he says. "They see it as the way that Japan can not only survive and compete against other countries but become sort of a world-leading technological powerhouse."
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"Loving the Machine," published by Kodansha International, goes on sale Sept. 15 with a retail price of $26.95.
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Stephanie Hoo is asap's business writer.
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