Tetsujin 28-go in Kobe and Akihabara

English Directions!

1.) You will likely start off at Shin Kobe station exiting the Shinkansen. Shin Kobe station is not the central station of Kobe so you will need to take a brief subway ride to Sannomiya station. Follow the signs to the subway (it is a walk). The subway’s name is Yamate Line. Go S02 Shin Kobe one stop to S03 Sannomiya.
2.) At Sannomiya station, take the JR Kobe Line 4 stops to Shin Nagata station.
3.) As soon as you go through the ticket booth, you will see this.

It will highlight where the Wakamatsu park is (where Tetsujin 28 stands) but some more explanation is needed.
4.) Turn left when you exit the train wickets and see that map.

5.) When you have exited the station, turn you head to the right. You will see this building that says “Joy Plaza” on it. Walk to the street in front of the Joy Plaza building and turn left.

6.) Continue on that street until you see this sign.
This sign is the start of a street you must walk down to find Tetsujin 28-go.

Also, along this street you will see street lamps with the robot’s head.

And you will also see large banners advertising in English. I looked at the train station stores but did not have any luck finding someone who sold these posters.

At the end of this street turn right and you will see him. My first impression, like the Gundam before him, MUCH larger in person. You really got to see him for yourself to see what I mean.

Now for some shots of Tetsujin. I tried to get more then just the ones from the front that you always see.

I should also note, that unlike the Gundam I covered earlier, Tetsujin 28-go is a permanent attraction. ^_^

Was pretty cool seeing Tetsujin even without knowing the anime. ^_^

One thing though. A lot of the locals looked at me like I was in uniform or something. They were not used to seeing a foreigner out there it looked like. ^^;

The pose of Tetsujin is supposed to represent strength. It was purposely built in the hardest hit area of Kobe after that infamous earthquake in 1995.

Make's me a little curious about the source material. It does look pretty cool even though it's a bit retro to what I am used to in mecha now-a-days.

What a nice way to start out my trip to Kobe, Japan. I hope you enjoyed my pics of the giant robot Gigantor and hopefully my directions will help even just one person find Tetsujin.

On the subject of Tetsujin, I spotted the "live action version" in Akihabara train station last Sunday. This is the version that was featured in NTT's commercial which featured a very realistic take on the classic robot. Sadly, the Akihabara Tetsujin 28-go is around my height but it was still cool enough to make many Tokyo commuters stop and take pictures with their cell phones. ^_^

You can view that commercial on Dannychoo's blog if your interested.
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25208/Tetsujin.html