Goodbye ‘Gundam’: Remembering the Japanese Engineering Marvel

Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away, there used to be an 18-meter tall (that’s 59 feet) Gundam in Yokohama. Key word being was, as the Gundam has left the port of Yokohama for good.

But what is Gundam?

For the uninitiated, it’s a 45-year-old Japanese military science fiction franchise dating back to 1979 about giant humanoid robots (piloted by humans). Think of it as Japanese Star Wars, except the Millennium Falcon is not a ship but rather a giant robotic suit that can be piloted by a person, hence the term Mobile Suit Gundam. They aren’t exactly sentient like Transformers either.  

So, what’s in a name? Well, the word Gundam can be broken down quite literally into two – gun and dam.

At first keeping in line with the militaristic themes of the plot, creator Yoshiyuki Tomino toyed with names like Guntank and Gundom (gun and freedom). Now these mechs (mechanized units) are powerful, but Gundom didn’t exactly convey just how strong they are.

Much like a hydroelectric dam that holds back water, the unit holds back wave after wave of enemies. And so, the term Gundam was coined. Note, while all Gundams are Mobile Suits, not all the Mobile Suits are Gundam.

The Gundam mythos is nearly as vast and far-reaching as space itself, in the four decades that the franchise has flourished, there are over 50 anime series, original video animations, films, and spin-offs along with novels and manga. This isn’t even counting Gunpla, the plastic model kits that are proudly displayed on the shelves of the Gundam enthusiasts.

Going back to the beginning, the first of the Gundams (and perhaps the most iconic) is the RX-78-2 Gundam piloted by Amuro Ray. When you think of Gundam, the RX-78-2 would be the first to come to mind with its yellow, red, white and blue, sleek and simple design.  

The Gundam that resided in Yokohama, the RX-78F00 Gundam fondly referred to as the Yokohama Gundam, was modeled after the RX-78-2. The Yokohama Gundam was the world’s only moving Gundam, it is also the largest moving robot that the Earth has seen.

Creating a life-sized moving Gundam was a mammoth feat. The moving Gundam had collaborators working on it from varied industrial companies to build each individual component that would bring the RX-78F00 to life. The team quickly realized that because the Gundam is humanoid in structure, a moving Gundam meant that it had to have the ability to walk.

For a regular (human-sized) robot, placing one foot in front of the other is an easy enough task; but for an 18-meter-tall robot, it is near impossible.

The Gundam is gigantic, it would have to move slowly, that would require its foot to be hovering in the air for a fairly long period of time. There’s also the added effect of gravity at play. In keeping its foot held high, the Gundam would inevitably end up toppling over before its foot hits the ground again. The Gundam is heavy, after all. With the current materials available, there’s no way to build the Gundam any lighter.

Therefore, it was decided that for the Gundam to remain upright and execute its movements, it would need a frame. Thus, the Gundam Dock (G-Dock) was created; this structure would provide the necessary support the Gundam needed to remain upright.

So essentially the Gundam does move – gracefully, one might say – and re-enact the sequences that up until now stayed confined to the fictional realm. It might not be able to walk in the literal sense and cover large distances but it still embodied the spirit of a Gundam.

There was even an apology letter from Tomino, (the creator) at the entrance of the Yokohama Gundam Factory which detailed the difficulties in getting the moving Gundam to the point it had reached, along with the fact that while it moves,it doesn’t quite move.

“I am disappointed that we couldn’t make something that could walk on two legs. So, I have a favour to ask of all of you. Among those of you who want to see the GUNDAM move more like a vehicle, look up at this GUNDAM and realize that there are many problems that need to be solved. And then come up with appropriate solutions…Though we could only make a humanoid robot of this size move slowly, that slowness suits it well and makes on feel that this GUNDAM is very kind and gentle.”

There’s a very long line to get into the Gundam factory to see this kind and gentle giant. It snakes at least thrice with ticket holders eagerly awaiting entry into the premises. As the franchise itself is over four decades old, the visitors’ age ranges from grandparents to grandchildren (even infants are brought to see the Gundam). The line uncoils slowly but with the sun out shining bright in the early afternoon during the Sakura season, it’s warm and pleasant. No one’s complaining.

When one finally makes it through the entrance, the RX-78F00 stands like a sentinel in his dock and all the visitors make a dash to stand front and center. For obvious safety reasons, there is a barrier with KEEP OUT written that prevents the crowd below from getting any closer to the Gundam. There’s a sea of selfie sticks, phone screens and cameras. But because Japan is Japan, despite the large number of people gathered, no one pushes you. The LED signboard on the dock indicates that the Gundam is on standby.

An announcement is made, the Gundam will soon begin the start-up experiment. An eager hush of anticipation falls over the crowd as the 10-minute countdown begins. The majority of the crowd by now has their phones up in the air, arms probably beginning to hurt, eight minutes in.

When the timer hits zero, the dock opens, the Gundam moves ahead.

The eyes light up and it comes to life.

The crowd goes wild.

The Gundam’s movements are fluid, precise and graceful. The fact that it is rooted to a dock is irrelevant and forgotten. For all intents and purposes, the Yokohama Gundam is the real deal. The closest humanity has come to building a functional giant humanoid robot. The cockpit opens and we briefly see what appears to be Amuro Ray piloting the Gundam.   

For 11 minutes, the crowd watches with unwavering attention. The atmosphere is emotionally charged, further driven by the fact that soon the Gundam Factory would be closing, and with it the Yokohama Gundam.

The experiment comes to a close. RX-78F00’s eyes dim and it looks off into the horizon. Birds fly overhead and the Gundam goes back into standby. It’s a poignant scene, the Gundam’s eyes affixed to the horizon, evoking a feeling of loneliness and melancholy that everything is coming to an end.    

All around the Gundam, people roam around with their green Haro (a Gundam mascot) popcorn buckets enjoying the spring breeze. Most stick around to watch the next sequence because the Gundam Factory is a lot like Hotel California – you can always enter but you never want to leave.

Another highlight of the Yokohama Gundam Factory is the Gundam Academy which is located in the premises. The Gundam Academy chronicles exactly how the RX-78F00 came to be. The Academy gives one a very hands-on behind the scenes look at the development and design process for each and every part of the moving Gundam.  

There’s even Mr. Build, a robot seated inside that patiently and continuously builds Gunpla after Gunpla. It deftly and precisely assembles the plastic models, attaching the head to the torso and so on and so forth. Finally, when the model is complete, it joins its brethren, the miniature RX-78F00s stand neatly in a row. Visitors clap enthusiastically when the little robot completes its task before moving on to make the next mini-RX-78F00.

The Yokohama Gundam is an engineering marvel. To build something in that large of a scale and have it move is a feat that pushes the boundaries of the technology we have today. It doesn’t matter if it needs a support dock or if it can’t walk. It is still a feat. It’s sad that it won’t be there forever.

Of course, the Gundam Factory was never meant to be a permanent attraction from the get-go. Maintaining a robot that huge is no easy task and safety concerns are another thing to keep in mind. It’s also combined with the fact that it’s sitting on prime real estate, the Yamashita Wharf. The proximity to the sea means that the high salt concentration in the air will undeniably cause rust and damage. It is only due to Covid-19 and pandemic-related restrictions on public gatherings that the RX-78F00 got an extended lease on life.

Much like the cherry blossoms, there is beauty in impermanence, one could say. You certainly appreciate something a lot more when you know it isn’t going to be there forever.

Perhaps using the Yokohama Gundam as the foundation there might be an even more advanced completely functional Gundam to come in the future. A Gundam whose soles aren’t weighed down by gravity.