News
18-m Tetsujin 28/Gigantor Statue's Head Attached
posted on by Egan Loo
Not-So-Daily Link of the Day: A crane has attached the head of the "life-size," 18-meter-tall (59-foot-tall) Gigantor) to its body in Kobe, Japan on Monday morning. The head alone measures 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in diameter and weighs 0.9 tons (2,000 pounds), or about the size and weight of a small subcompact car. Since the 50-ton statue is not "standing" straight up, it is actually 15.3 meters (50.2 feet) high.
The Sally the Witch.
The statue was called for a spring 2008 opening.) The project raised 135 million yen (US$1.40 million), partly through the city's investment of 45 million yen (US$470,000) and through sales of "Tetsujin Curry." As part of the city's commemoration, five streetlights shaped like Tetsujin 28's head have been installed at a nearby walkway. True to their inspiration, the 41-centimeter-wide (16-inch), 49-centimeter-tall (19-inch) streetlight heads have light-up eyes.
In related news, crew have taken the final photographs of the 18-meter-tall, "life-size" intended as a temporary outdoor display. The planners acknowledged that the fate of the statue after disassembly is "undetermined."
Sources: Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, Kobe Shimbun, Alt Japan
Image © Hikari Productions/KOBE Tetsujin Project 2009
