LISA KATAYAMA

io9Books & Comics

Black Jack, the Greatest Gory-Cute Scifi Manga Ever

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. Mad scientists. Beautiful women who specialize in amputations. Supercomputers that threaten to starve an entire hospital full of patients. Tumors that take on human form. Sounds like a freakish B-list horror movie, right? Actually, these are all seminal elements of … Continued

Tech News

Why Zen Software Design Does Not Come From Japan

Japan is the epicenter of Zen, a concept with deep religious roots and a mandate for simplicity of appearance and lifestyle. But when it comes to native gadgetry, Zen is only skin-deep. Japanese cell phones are sleek on the outside, but once you open the clamshell, the interface is a complete mess. While American-made phones … Continued

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Five Japanese Monsters I Encountered Before I Turned 20

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. In Tokyo, teenage girls don’t worry about date rape and theft nearly as much as they fret over monsters (and train gropers). I never thought twice about the whereabouts of my wallet as I walked home in the dark after … Continued

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My Virtual Journey On A Ribosome Spaceship And To The Far Ends of the Galaxy

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. The International Space Station is flying straight at me. “This is a glimpse into the future,” a voice says from somewhere above my head. “This is what the ISS will look like when it’s completed in 2010.” The giant silver … Continued

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How to Buy Figurines in Tokyo: An Illustrated Guide

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. Earlier this week, I joined a team of experts from Gizmodo Japan on an expedition to the world’s most famous geek mecca. For half a century, people trekked to Akihabara to buy electronics parts. But in the last 10-15 years, … Continued

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Tokyo Zombie: Zombies, Cage Fights, Oral Sex, and Martial Arts

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. What if zombies took over Tokyo? How would a slow zombie fare in a cage fight against a martial arts expert? Has a zombie ever offered you a blowjob? These questions and more are answered in a funny, slightly X-rated … Continued

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The Yellow Peril, Fu Manchu, and the Ethnic Future

Click to viewWelcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. Back in the 1920s and 30s, when Asian immigration to the US and Europe was picking up steam, prominent science fiction writers like Philip Nowlan and H.P. Lovecraft created speculative scenarios starring massive hordes of horrible, slanty-eyed, intelligent … Continued

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Coming Soon from China: Dystopic Futures, the Next Steve Jobs, and a World Full of Drumming Androids

Click to viewWelcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. I’m a total sports nut. Olympic season makes my bones shiver with excitement. But this year, I took my mind off record-breaking swim relays and super-twisty gymnastics routines for a minute to consider the host country’s techno-socio-political future. … Continued

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Mac Funamizu’s Gadget Designs of the Future

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. Mac Funamizu is a tech geek, designer, and futurist who has created quite a lot of buzz among design circles for his innovative gadgets from the future. The 38-year old Tokyo native has always loved Apple, Google, and Starbucks, but … Continued

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Futurist Japanese Artists Show Us Life in the Next Century

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. There’s a lot of buzz about Japanese contemporary artists these days. Takashi Murakami’s super-cute, superflat alien-like characters are on everything from Louis Vuitton bags to the pages of io9. But he isn’t the first or only Japanese artist on our … Continued

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Four Anime Robots That Made Me More Human

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. My childhood hero was a purple-haired robot who spends all her free time poking poop with a stick. Like all good Japanese children, my formative years were influenced by manga robot heroes-two-dimensional, two-legged machines that first existed in simple black-and-white … Continued

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How Alternate Reality Helped Me Survive the Dentist

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. While Dr. Wong was putting dental dam in my mouth, I was watching three hot women singing the penis song in a Chinese restaurant downtown. It happened last Thursday, when I discovered a gadget that can warp my brain to … Continued

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Five Reasons Why Aliens Will Make Contact with the Japanese First

Click to viewWelcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. I’ve been thinking about extraterrestrials a lot this week. Do they exist? How will we know? Who will they call if they decide to make contact with us, and through what medium? First off, nobody knows if extraterrestrials … Continued

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Wearable Motorcycle Makes Biomechatronics a Reality

Riding motorcycles is so last century. In the future, according to art student Jake Loniak, people will be wearing motorcycles. This concept vehicle endorsed by Yamaha turns biomechatronics into reality: the vertical ride has 36 pneumatic muscles and two linear actuators. It also has a built-in helmet, a motor in the central wheel, and runs … Continued

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A Soviet Steam Train That Looks Like a Moebius Strip

Luigi Colani is a world-famous, legendary industrial designer from Germany who has been inventing futuristic vehicles since the mid-20th century. He used ergonomically sensible, futuristic designs featuring giant pods and provocative aerodynamics way before anyone even thought it possible. This extraordinary design was devised for a steam train in Soviet Russia. Want to see the … Continued

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Ass-Kicking Asian Women with Machine Guns Meet the Apocalypse

Welcome to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. Fight scenes featuring beautiful Asian women with machine guns are sexy, scary, and fetishistic. If you’re in San Francisco in June, you’re in luck—you can get a double dose of ass-busting Asian women at the Another Hole in the Head horror … Continued

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House of Gundam

Reboot, a concept home designed by Philly native Victor Vetterlein, is literally a Gundam house — like the giant robot armor from anime, it responds to commands and looks like a giant creature with a glowing eye. It’s wired so that you can voice command it to do things like turn on the AC, dim … Continued

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Yes, Superheroes, There Is Life After 50!

What happens when superheroes retire? Italian cartoonist Donald Soffritti knows best, because he draws them—in humorous, imaginative, and fantasy-wrecking detail—at their worst. For example, Wonder Woman has traded in her Amazonian hotness and superpowers for a cigarette, a chihuahua, and a lot of extra layers of fat. Sad. Keep reading to find out what happens … Continued

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Robots Superheroes Made Out of Junk Metal

Paul Loughridge specializes in making robots and rockets from scrap metal and other junk. Pictured here is Sir Lube of Can-O-Lot, a mini-bot made from an old hydraulic pump poler, a vegetable grater for a shield, and a helmet with a hinged face guard. Loughridge also gives each of his bots a unique persona. Can-O-Lot … Continued

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Solar Lily Pads Leave Robot Paw Prints on Glasgow River

How can you use solar energy to power one of Scotland’s greatest cities and make an old river look futuristic? Scottish architecture firm ZM Architecture designed giant lily pads for the River Clyde that collect solar energy and energize the city’s grid. Want to see a cool aerial view? From a distance, they look like … Continued