Editor’s Note: This feature is part of Vision Japan, a series about the visionaries who are changing Japan, and the places that inspire this innovation. See more here.
The Japanese government is in the midst of what it’s calling a “Robot Revolution Initiative” – a five-year-plan backed by more than 400 businesses and other organizations to grow its robotics market to over $21 billion.
Japan has a long history of robot innovation – its industrial robots can be found in factories around the world, doing everything from assembling cars to loading pallets.
But when it comes to robots it’s the humanoid machines that really capture the public’s imagination – the machines that walk, talk, sing and dance. And Japan has no shortage of those. Here’s a short history of some of the country’s most eye-catching androids.
Video by Jenny Marc, timeline by Sarah-Grace Mankarious, illustrations by Michelle Thompson, text by Katy Scott.