My new book

Amazon (US, Japan, UK, and Canada) have started accepting pre-orders for my new book, Otaku Japan Travel Guide.
This is of course the sequel to my "Tokyo Geek's Guide" and covers the whole of the country.

World Domination Enterprise

Ever wondered how many plastic Gundam models exist in the world?

(Photo by Domenico)

Over 500 million, apparently.
Gunpla first debuted in July 1980 with a 1:144 scale model of the original RX-78-2 Gundam. There are now over 2,000 variations, reports Mantan Web.

(Photo by Stefan)

According to Bandai Spirits, if you lined up the packages of every model sold to date, they’d wrap around the earth four-and-a-half times and weigh about 350,000 pounds. That’s a lot of Gunpla.

(Photo by Domenico)

There have been many improvements and variations on the line over the years, including in 1987, when Bandai released the first model that could snap together without glue.
In 2010, the number of units shipped reached 400 million.
Here’s looking forward to the next 40 years of plastic Gundam models.


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I'm the author of the Tokyo Geek's Guide.
Please check out my other main blog where I post other Japan-related news, articles and interviews.

Gundam Build Divers TV Anime Premieres This Spring

Sunrise is on the way with more Gunpla anime action in the form of Gundam Build Divers, the latest entry in the Gundam Build Fighters series. This one has Kyoya Kujo competing in the Gunpla Force Battle Tournament along with a wide assortment of challengers, and it’s set to debut this spring.

Ahead of that, the main staff and cast members have been revealed. Shinya Watada will be directing, with Noboru Kimura on series composition, Juri Toida on character designs, and Masami Obari as action director for the TV Tokyo, Sunrise, and Sotsu production.

Here’s a rundown of the cast thus far:

Riku Mikami – Yūsuke Kobayashi

Yukio Hidaka – Natsumi Fujiwara

Momoka Yashiro – Nene Hieda



Sera – Haruka Terui

Kyoya Kujo – Jun Kasama

In other news, last week I visited the mighty Kinokuniya bookstore in Tokyo, and I had a nice chat with the good folks who run the foreign-language book floor.

Here's the latest review of my book: https://otakutokyojp.blogspot.jp/2018/01/tokyo-geeks-guide-update.html
By the way, if you already have a copy of Tokyo Geek's Guide and you liked it, an Amazon rating/review would be greatly appreciated.  https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Geeks-Guide-Cosplay-Ultimate/dp/4805313854/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJPEKT7NESXKMP4AC83R
And a big thank you if you have already done it!