konichuwa FSU: By Kyle

Pictured L to R: Kyle Hebner, Bryan Williams, Tom Hollen, Mike Dunakin

Pictured L to R: Shu and the first Director

Sorry for the delay on this post, we’ve been very busy building and filming for the TV show.

On behalf of my colleagues and myself I like to express how much of an honor its been being able to work in Tokyo in one of the most genuinely kind and caring cultures I have ever come across. It’s truly been an experience that I will not soon forget.

There are three people who we work with that speak fluent English, and one of them, Shu, stays with us all the time as our translator and Tokyo tour guide, unfortunately, he’s only been here a few months and gets a little lost sometimes, but that only adds to the fun. Not only is he a really cool guy, he’s also into Heavy Metal and from the moment we arrived at the airport he and I became really good friends. He even, after hearing that I was really into Sonata Arctica, had one of our helpers go out and purchase The Days of Grey, their new album so we’d have something to listen to while we build the machine. We are usually listening to music when we’re in our lab back home and I think Metal really motivates us to build wild and crazy steps.

The machine itself consists of many different toys from American and Japanese tradition to symbolize the union of our Countries in this record breaking effort. So far we have had one full day of building and we’re now on our second.

All of Tuesday was spent shopping for materials and admittedly, a little sight-seeing. Mike and I went for toys and found ourselves in a familiar setting, Toys R Us. We bought about 21000 Yen (a little over $200) worth of toys, and then it was lunch time. The question was proposed, “What do you want to eat?” and of course the appropriate response was “Nihon ryoori tabemasushou” which of course translates to “Let’s eat Japanese food” so we had this dish called Okonomi-yaki, which was the absolute best dish I’ve ever eaten. I sampled three of the four different platters we ordered and each one them seemed better then its predecessor.

I don’t know how much of this next thought is simply part of the Japanese culture or genuine courtesy, but we have amassed a huge pile of snacks on our front table, every few hours someone goes and gets a few bags of chips and some cookies and several beverages and is left there until we consume them. One of the directors just walked in with a handful of Iced Coffee, which all of us have gotten addicted to. Mike just about groveled at his feet when he came in though the door.

I have a lot more to say about the city, but that’s for another time. As for the progress, it’s pretty standard. We’ve been working 12 hour shifts for the past few days. We’re on course and still have high hopes of completing this on time.

Hopefully some pictures will tide you over until I can write some more, but right now there’s not a whole lot to say.