For ten years, a spaceship has been parked in the port of tsunami-hit Ishinomaki. The locals don`t mind though. Inside the 3 storey landmark is a museum dedicated to the works of local man, Shotaro Ishinomori, the `king of manga`.
Spaceship-designed Mangattan in Ishinomaki, June 2011.
The Mangattan Museum, as it`s called, was opened to add tourism to traditional industries of fishing and agriculture. Unfortunately, over 5 metres of seawater raced through the first floor on March 11th and the building is still without electricity or gas. No re-opening date has been set yet.
When it does re-open, I want to go – Ishinomori had some great ideas. Walking outside the museum three weeks ago, I discovered a statue of Robocon – one of his most famous creations. Robocon is a loyal and spirited but brainless robot, struggling to make his way through robot school in 1970`s Japan.
Just watching the opening credits of his 1970`s TV show, uploaded below, will charm anyone.
Robocon proably isn`t clever enough to take over from the Short Circuit-type robots working at the Fukushima nuclear plant, but he has more guts than them. The con in his name comes from the Japanese word konjo, meaning guts or courage.
I bought this Robocon omamori (a charm) at a special opening of a stall from the museum gift shop in Ishinomaki. The best 500 yen I ever spent.
Robocon`s statue was dirtied but not destroyed by the tsunami. His guts are still providing inspiration as you can see below in the headline image taken from the town blog.
Ishinomaki`s Town Information Site. http://ishinomakimatinaka.blog.fc2.com/
Shimaguni 