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Robots, Space, and Place

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Japanese Robot Culture

Abstract

This chapter discusses varied forms of fighting humanoid performance in popular entertainment. Though designed for different audiences (Japanese robot fans and foreign tourists in the case of the Robot Restaurant), this chapter exposes how these popularised productions embody fantastical narratives to do with the image of a futuristic but wacky ‘techno-Japan’. The robots in this particular prismatic reflection of the popular understanding of the robot are not nationalistic boosters, as they are in Chap. 3, or intended for the purpose of artistic exploration, as discussed in Chap. 4,but instead are humorous or outrageous performers of phantasmagoria for their fans. Importantly, spectators, creators, and performers knowingly and enthusiastically participate in this spectacle, the sort of demonstration that is an essential part of fan and tourist cultures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Yuji Sone

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  1. Yuji Sone
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Sone, Y. (2017). Robots, Space, and Place. In: Japanese Robot Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52527-7_5

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