We all dream about piloting giant robots, but Japanese ironsmith Kogoro Kurata actually builds them.
Tim Hornyak
Crave freelancer Tim Hornyak is the author of "Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots." He has been writing about Japanese culture and technology for a decade. E-mail Tim.
Kuratas is Japanese metal wizard Kogoro Kurata's latest giant robot creation. Shown off over the weekend outside Tokyo, it's a 13-foot colossus that rolls on four wheels. Thankfully for the citizens of the capital, its weapons aren't real; it's described as an art project.
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Systems check
Kuratas weighs more than four tons and has many moving parts. A flatbed truck is required to haul it around.
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Great guns
Kuratas seems to have various mock weapons like a "LOHAS loader" and multi-barrel machine guns. Nerf missiles not included.
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Under the hood
A lot of engineering, along with months of work, went into building Kuratas.
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Wonder Festival
This promo poster for the recent Wonder Festival shows the scale of Kuratas.
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Scopedogs
Kurata is known for creating a full-scale model of a Scopedog mecha from the 1980s series Votoms. It can be seen in the background of this shot of Kuratas in production.
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Under construction
This shot of an unpainted, half-finished Kuratas shows the complex machinery under the exoskeleton.
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Pilot-ready
What's it like to cruise around in Kuratas? You might be able to find out once the project is complete, as the website promises to launch sales.
