3.6 Meters Tall Gundam & Char's Zaku II Planned For Inagi Promotion center (Japan)
Two giant robotic vehicles from the highly popular “Mobile Suit Gundam” series will stand guard over a planned tourism promotion center in the city of Inagi, Tokyo.
The mobile suits, which are basically humanoid soldiers operated by pilots, will be the highlight of the center scheduled to open next April and are part of a plan to help revitalize the city.
Each of the two monuments stands 3.6 meters tall. One is a replica of the Gundam piloted by the main character of the original series, Amuro, and the other is the Zaku, operated by his nemesis, Char.
The “Gundam” theme was chosen because Kunio Okawara, the man who designed the robots for the series, lives in Inagi.
The 150-square-meter tourism center is to be built underneath the elevated Inaginaganuma Station on the JR Nanbu Line. The project will cost about 160 million yen ($1.3 million). The center will also sell locally made merchandise and specialties, such as pears.
“We want to work on tourism projects that attract people from outside the city, not just commuters,” Inagi Mayor Katsuhiro Takahashi said.