Categories
Music

Z-Machines – Robots Concert

My friend Ernest and I went to a concert in which the music was played by robots. The band is called Z-Machines and the funny thing is that the robots do stuff like for example greeting the crowd before the concert or show gratitude at the end. The robots are programmed to speed up the beat of the songs or keep playing one more song if the crowd is loud enough. I didn’t really enjoy the music but it was fascinating to see so many people just hearing what some robots were programmed to play.

I took some videos with my camera and I have put them together with iMovie so you can have an idea of the concert atmosphere:

Z-Machines

Z-Machines

Z-Machines

Z-Machines

Z-Machines

Z-Machines

Z-Machines concert

Z-Machines concert

DSC_7357-2
The crowd was perfectly synchronised, another example of collectivism/individualism.

More about Z-Machines

Categories
Travel

Nakijin Castle in Okinawa

The current Okinawa prefecture was formerly known as the Ryukyu Kingdom. The inhabitants of the Ryukyu islands were able to maintain their independence from the Chinese and Japanese empires during the Edo era. However, they were not very amiable between each other, during many years the Okinawa islands were divided in three kingdoms: Hokuzen (North Kingdom), Chuzan (Center Kingdom) and Nanzan (South Kingdom).

Each kingdom was controlled from one castle. Shuri castle in Naha (South Kingdom) and Nakijin castle (North Kingdom) were the most powerful castles. These are some photos of Nakijin castle I took in a sunny day. You can see the “gusuku” style stone walls, which are unique to Okinawa.

Nakijin castle

Nakijin castle in okinawa

Nakijin castle

Nakijin castle

Nakijin castle

Nakijin castle

Nakijin castle

Nakijin castle

Nakijin castle

Nakijin castle

Nakijin castle

More posts about Okinawa:

Categories
Various

Ultraman at JR Stations

Today I found this Ultraman statue at Shinbashi station in the Yamanote line. Next to the statue there was a stand where you can get a stamp to certify that you have found the statue. It seems that it is a promotion to collect the Ultraman characters stamps. If you manage to get all the stamps you will be able to have a chance to get several prizes. These kind of marketing promotions are known in Japan as スタンプラリー (Stamp Rally). To participate in them you have to use the official passbook and then collect all the stamps.

Ultraman

Ultraman

Ultraman

Ultraman

Ultraman

Ultraman at JR stations

Ultraman

More information about the stations and the places where you can collect the stamps