Building the life-sized Gundam statue in Tokyo (with video, updated)

Construction of the Gundam in Tokyo
(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

The towering Gundam statue in Odaiba in Tokyo is drawing more and more attention with its completion this month.

Despite plans for the statue to only be shown until August 31st of this year (after which what will happen to it is anyone’s guess), its conception and construction has taken well over one year in planning and execution. The concept planning began in spring of 2008 and actual construction began in spring of 2009.

There is an ongoing Japanese documentary called Green Tokyo Gundam Project: The making of Gundam -Real G- that is currently available on youtube. Although it is in Japanese, it has some fascinating time-lapse photography of the statue being built from the ground up at the end of each segment. 

There are currently eleven parts online, this page shows the first eight, next three can be found at Making the Tokyo Gundam, Real G, documentary continues.

Name translation notes:

1. Green Tokyo Gundam Project Volume 1: For the next step (referring to a phrase that the concept group used when designing the statue to aim for the future) [This segment depicts construction between March 31st and April 3rd]
2. Green Tokyo Gundam Project Volume 2: The internal frame [This segment depicts construction between April 6rd and April 11th]
3. Green Tokyo Gundam Project Volume 3: Construction site conditions part 1 [This segment depicts construction between April 13th and April 26th]
4. Green Tokyo Gundam Project Volume 4: The Gundam’s armor part 1 (This segment showing the construction of the shell in Thailand) [depicts construction between April 27th and May 9th]
5. Green Tokyo Gundam Project Volume 5: The Gundam’s armor part 2 [This segment depicts construction between May11th and May 15th]
6. Green Tokyo Gundam Project Volume 6: The Gundam’s color [This segment depicts construction between May 18th and May 23rd]
7. Green Tokyo Gundam Project Volume 7: Construction site conditions part 2 [This segment depicts construction between May 25th and May 30th]
8. Green Tokyo Gundam Project Volume 8: Entertainment [This segment depicts construction between June 1st and June 6th] 

See Volumes 8-12 at Making the Tokyo Gundam, Real G, documentary continues

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

Part 7:

Part 8:

See Volumes 8-12 at Making the Tokyo Gundam, Real G, documentary continues

(Note: This article was revised and updated on July 25,2009)