I'm Japanese, and this is the first I've heard of Gakutensoku. If you asked people in Japan for an old Japanese "robot", I think most would come up with this tea-carrying karakuri doll.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakuri_puppet
That one predates the word "robot" entirely. The design is documented in a 1796 book called "Karakuri Zui", so Edo period, shoguns still in charge.
That one predates the word "robot" entirely. The design is documented in a 1796 book called "Karakuri Zui", so Edo period, shoguns still in charge.
I have only seen right->left on signs; I have never seen it in books or magazines.
> the details of its disappearance are unknown
A mystery! Someone will know...
"touring Germany when he was somehow lost...
"In 2008, the Osaka Science Museum produced a new Gakutensoku. At 10'6", the new golden-skinned automata...
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gakutensoku
--- More on Nishimura & motives: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-short-strange-life-of-the-firs...
* Appearance in Korea at an expo (1928, 1929?): https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/landing/article.kci?arti_id=...
* The creator writing about it in 1931 (reference 10 on the same page)
Shanghai but uncertain date.
Was it dismantled in either Korea or China, or shipped back and dismantled, or destroyed?