On March 5, 2017, the 18 meter high life-size “Gundam” statue ended its exhibition at Tokyo Odaiba, and a closing ceremony was held.

The statue had been a symbol of Japanese pop-culture and was a popular attraction that entertained many foreign tourists.

I myself am the “Gundam generation,” so I feel a little sad and emotional.

I have personal connections with the robot statue.

The statue actually moved twice between Tokyo and Shizuoka prefecture.

In 2009, it came to Odaiba for the first time, and in 2010, it moved to “Higashi-Shizuoka Station” next to one of the bullet-train stations.

Now, north of the “Higashi-Shizuoka Station” is a large shopping center. Back then, I was the manager of a development project in a real-estate developer in this area.

Eventually, I lost against my rivals and ran around giving presentations and consulting with the local government.

Anyway, just about the time I was on my development program, the head of Bandai came to Higashi-Shizuoka and installed the statue of Gundam as a part of the “Shizuoka Hobby Fair.”

The head of the company (now known as Bandai Hobby Center) is the center of development and production for Gundam plastic models.

The fair ended, and the statue came back to Odaiba in 2012.

The statue standing in Odaiba was amazing, however, the Gundam in Shizuoka prefecture watching over the bullet-train and Mount Fuji seemed as it represented Japanese pop-culture.

People are sad to see the majestic figure go, but word is that from this autumn, “Unicorn Gundam” from “Mobile Suit Unicorn” will take the original Gundam’s place.

The predecessor, Mobile Suit Gundam, entertained many tourists and fans. Thank you for your long hours of standing.