Daruma dolls are traditional Japanese “good luck” dolls modeled after the Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma.
In a Japanese tradition, only one eye is painted on a daruma doll when someone makes a wish. The wish-maker paints the second eye when the wish comes true and sends the daruma doll back to the monastery where it was bought.
From Wikimedia Commons
Japanese efforts to overcome the Uncanny Valley Effect (the feeling of revulsion people experience when encountering robots that are not genuinely lifelike):
To make Paro [a robotic baby seal] realistic, Takanori Shibata…flew out to a floating ice field in Northeast Canada to record real baby seals in their natural habitat. In addition to replicating those sounds in the robot, he designed it to seek out eye contact, respond to touch, cuddle, remember faces, and learn actions that generate a favorable reaction. Just like animals used in pet therapy, Shibata argues, Paro can help relieve depression and anxiety—but it never needs to be fed and doesn’t die.
At the elder-care facility in Yokohama, I watch a nurse place a Paro in the arms of a blind 90-year-old man in a wheelchair. “What is this?” he asks. Then, as the seal snuggles into him, he lets out a joyful, “Oh!”, clutches it tightly to his chest, and flashes a toothless grin.
Interesting thoughts on the cultural-specificity of Japanese reactions to robots, too:
Those fears [about robots] don’t particularly resonate in Japan. Unlike in Western nations, many citizens have always felt comfortable with the concept of robots. One reason for this, Hornyak suggests, is the country’s Shintoist heritage. The religion has imbued Japanese culture with deep animist beliefs, a tendency to ascribe spirit and personality to inanimate objects. The tradition, embedded in Japanese folklore and myth, can be seen around Tokyo even today. The city has a monument to eyeglasses in one park, Hornyak notes, and there’s an annual ceremony at Sensoji Temple to pay respect to needles that have seen their last use. “Would you ever find a monument erected to belts or something, in a U.S. park?” he asks. “I don’t think so.”
From Popular Science
H/t: Instapundit
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes performs a punk cover of Hero (originally by Kai Band).
Hero hero ni naru toki ah ha sore wa ima
Hero hikisakareta yoru ni omae wo hanashi wa shinai
Ikirutte koto wa ichiya kagiri no one night show
Ya no yoni hashiru toki no hazama de odoru kotosa
Konya omae wa heroine mo nakasanaiyo
Kono tamashii no subete de omae wo aishiteirusa
Ginmaku no naka nakigao no James Deen no yoni
Ima ga kako ni narumae ni oretachi hashiridaso dakara
Hero hero ni naru toki ah ha sore wa ima
Hero hikisakareta yoru ni omae wo hanashi wa shinai
Jinsei wa itsumo rojo no cocktail party
Hitotsu odoreba atsui omoi mo kiete yuku
Konya omae wa heroine mo nakanaide
Iki ga tsumaru hodo ni ai no itami wo kannjite kure
Ginmaku no naka yaseppochi no oretachi ga mieru daro
Ima ga kako ni narumae ni oretachi hashiridaso dakara
Hero hero ni naru toki ah ha sore wa ima
Hero hikisakareta yoru ni omae wo hanashi wa shinai
Hero sora wa hibiware hero taiyo wa moetsuki
Hero umi wa karehatete tsuki wa kudakechittemo
Hero hero ni naru toki ah ha sore wa ima
Hero hikisakareta yoru ni omae wo hanashi wa shinai
Hero hero ni naru toki ah ha sore wa ima
Hero hikisakareta yoru ni omae wo hanashi wa shinai
Hero hero ni naru toki ah ha sore wa ima
Hero hikisakareta yoru ni omae wo hanashi wa shinai
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes perform a cover of The Blue Hearts’ Linda Linda.
Dobunezumi mitai ni utsukushiku naritai
Shashin niwa utsuranai utsukushisa ga aru kara
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Moshimo boku ga itsuka kimi to deai hanashiaunara
Sonna toki wa doka ai no imi wo shitte kudasai
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Dobunezumi mitaini dare yorimo yasashii
Dobunezumi mitaini nani yorimo atatakaku
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Moshimo boku ga itsuka kimi to deai hanashiaunara
Sonna toki wa doka ai no imi wo shitte kudasai
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Linda Linda, Linda Linda Linda
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes perform a punk rock cover of a Japanese folk song from the 1970s.
I have got to get this album.
Not knowing Japanese, I can’t vouch for these lyrics:
Boku no kami ga kata made nobite
Kimi to onaji ni nattara
Yakusoku dori machi no kyokai de
Kekkon shiyoyo mmmm
Furui guitar wo poron to naraso
Shiroi chapel ga mietara
Nakama wo yonde hana wo morao
Kekkon shiyoyo mmmm
Mosugu haru ga penki wo kata ni
Ohanabatake no naka wo sanpo ni kuruyo
Soshitara kimi wa mado wo akete
Kekkon shiyoyo mmmm
Ame ga agatte kumo no kirema ni
Ohisama-san ga mietara
Hizakkozo wo tataite miruyo
Kekkon shiyoyo mmmm
Futari de katta midori no shatsu wo
Boku no ouchi no veranda ni
Narabete hoso
Kekkon shiyoyo boku no kami wa
Mousugu kata made todokuyo
[All right!]
The rock-and-roll classic covered with traditional Japanese instrumentation. (I cannot find what orchestra this is).
And the original version:
