Japanese military: "Towards the realization of Gundam"

The Japanese Ministry of Defense showed off its new high-tech battle suit in a presentation titled "Towards the realization of Gundam," a reference to the popular Mobile Suit Gundam anime. According to the ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute, the new Advanced Personal Armament System, which includes GPS, wireless networking, and thermal vision, was inspired by the cartoon mecha robots. Whether that's true or not, I think it's interesting that they went for otaku-appeal in the PR campaign.
Link (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)

[#1 posted by ill lich , November 14, 2007 1:40 PM]

I envision a future where all professional soldiers are like this, and insurgents take the opposite approach, traveling light, living off the land, learning to read animal signs like trackers, etc. "Mecha-soldiers" most certainly do not blend in with the population, perhaps even alienating the population more.

[#2 posted by mxhabla , November 14, 2007 2:07 PM]

I thought Japan couldn't have an armed military since WWII and only had army-like corps for emergency deployment and humanitarian support.

Wouldn't surprise me if anime series turns out to be a new class of futurist references, the kind that Arthur C. Clarke is. After all, the authors tend to be well documented and realistic in their work.

[#3 posted by Kidazy , November 14, 2007 2:17 PM]

One can only hope that they're actually as efficient as they look, but it's not as though they'll be outfitting our troops with them anytime soon we can't even afford to provide them with the necessities they need now.

[#4 posted by akbar56 , November 14, 2007 2:25 PM]

MXHABLA,

The JSDF is more than just an army-like corps for emergency deployment and humanitarian support

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Self-Defense_Forces

[#5 posted by Fumi , November 14, 2007 2:30 PM]

I sent you a link to that story three days ago - what gives?

[#6 posted by David Pescovitz , November 14, 2007 3:12 PM]

@FUMI (#5),

We receive hundreds of submissions every single day and do our best to get through all of them in order as quickly as possible. If you submit something and it shows up with a "thanks" to someone else, it might have been because they submitted it before you did, we heard about it from a friend in conversation, etc. Don't take it personally. We appreciate your suggestions!

[#7 posted by travelina , November 14, 2007 3:24 PM]

This battle suit is almost as cool as the medieval Japanese body armor you can try on at Narita International Airport when you're jetlagged and waiting for a flight. And they take your picture for free:
http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com/it/2007/10/tokyo-airport-f.html

[#8 posted by mscot , November 14, 2007 3:44 PM]

My money is on the ninjas.

[#9 posted by Church , November 14, 2007 3:50 PM]

Eight posts and not one reference to whether or not this is the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7029685.stm

I'm ashamed of you people.

[#10 posted by MOONBAT , November 14, 2007 5:12 PM]

JapanProbe has more about this:
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=3106

[#11 posted by GiantSnowman , November 15, 2007 8:38 AM]

I used to have "The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam" as my msn and gtalk message, I'm not sure how to adapt it to the news.

[#12 posted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator , November 15, 2007 9:47 AM]

Ill Lich (1):

"Mecha-soldiers" most certainly do not blend in with the population, perhaps even alienating the population more.

But they'll be designed by the Japanese, so they'll be cute.