This robot, named “Gakutensoku” had a golden body of approximately three metres in height. 
The robot surprised the world, since it was able to write letters by holding a pen in its right hand, close its eyes, and even smile just like a human being. Its movement was very smooth, because, unlike conventional dolls that used gears, it used a pneumatic system for its mechanism.

Today, Japan has established a strong international competitive edge in Robot Technology (RT). In addition to industrial robots, it is looking towards the development of next-generation robots which can assist people in their daily lives.

About 108,000 robots were produced in Japan in 2007. The size of the robot market, which encompasses the fields of industrial, medical, welfare and lifestyle robots, is expected to reach about 2.3 trillion yen by 2015.

The RT industry requires a combination of a wide array of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, communications, kinetics and nanotechnology. The high concentration of R&D institutes and facilities based in the Kansai area, together with the high density of SMEs which allow small lot production capabilities suitable for the nature of robot production, makes the Kansai area conducive as the centre of the RT industry. 

There is a very promising market for foreign RT-related companies/ SMEs. Please follow the link if you would like to find out more about robots and the robot industry in Kasai.