Japan has one of the highest abortion rates in the world.
As a result, they have a rapidly greying population.
As a result, the wave of Japanese seniors frequently has no children to take care of them, or at least no children in their homes.
As a result, Japanese toy companies like Bandai have turned from making toys for tots to making toys for seniors, specifically: child-like dolls that seniors can interact with.
Excerpts:
Talking toys have become such a hit that some elderly people have embraced them as substitutes for the children who have grown old and deserted entire neighborhoods in the rapidly greying country.
The Yumel doll, which looks like a baby boy and has a vocabulary of 1,200 phrases, is billed as a "healing partner" for the elderly and goes on the market Thursday at a price of 8,500 yen (80 dollars).
Another toymaker, Bandai, in November 1999 launched the Primopuel doll which is meant to resemble a five-year-old boy who needs the same sort of attention, asking to be hugged and entertained.
(Cowboy hat tip to the reader who sent it!)
A large genre within anime and manga deals with just this sad phenomenon: the replacement of human beings and human relationships by robots.
I remember one part of Robot Carnival deals with an old man who is all alone so he builds himself a robot that looks like a little girl. He is happy for a time but then he dies and, I believe, it ends by showing the robot just sitting there and rotting.
Wish I could find Robot Carnival on DVD (any region) or VHS (NTSC). Unfortunately, haven’t been able to locate it.
I could probably order it from Amazon’s Japanese site, except I can’t read or type in Japanese (but Nihongo ga skoshi wakarimasu).
Anyone have any ideas?
Isn’t Bandai the same toy company that offered its female employees a million yen for every child above replacement level?
Amazon US appears to have a few copies of the Streamline dub:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6302880858/104-8082056-0953542?v=glance
Thanks! Just ordered one.
Now if they’d put it out on DVD like they *FINALLY* did “They Were 11.”
NO 6 NNADI AZIKIWE AVENUE
GOVERNMENT RESERVE AREA
CROSS RIVER STATE
P.O B 1200.
MY DEAR
GREETINGS TO YOU
{THIS IS A VERY URGENT PROJECT PROPOSAL!!}
I MR CAUNDAR KIMO THE GOVERNOR OF CROSS RIVER STATE AN IN-LAW TO MR
ATIKU ABUBAKA THE VICE PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
LOOKING FOR A GOOD PLACE TO BUILD AN OIL REFINERY IN YOUR COUNTRY LOOK
FOR A LAND AND LET ME KNOW AFTER MAKING INQUIRY ON WHAT THE LAND WILL COST.
THESE BUSINESS IS BETWEEN THREE PARTIES YOU,I AND MY IN-LAW VICE PRESIDENT,FOR SAFETY DON’T LET ANY BODY KNOW ABOUT THIS BUSINESS WHAT I MEAN IS THAT KNOW BODY WILL KNOW THAT THE LAND IS FOR OIL REFINERY.
ABOUT THE CONTRACT YOU WILL HANDLE IT TILL THE END.
MY IN-LAW BROUGHT OUT ($150, MILLION U.S DOLLARS)
FOR THE PROJECT THE MONEY IS GOING TO BE TRANSFER STEP BY STEP AS
WISHES.
(1)WHEN YOU GET THE LAND AND SEND THE INFORMATION TO ME, AND THE AMOUNT
THEN I WILL SEND THE FIRST MONEY.
(2)THE COMPANY THAT IS GOING TO CONSTRUCT THE FACTORY AND THE COST
(3)THE OTHER LAST WILL BE IN YOUR ACCOUNT FOR OTHER EXPENSES AND TWO
MONTHS SALARY FOR ALL THE STAFF. OR WE CAN TRANSFER THE MONEY INTO YOUR
ACCOUNT WHILE YOU LOOK FOR A LAND.
I WILL USE MY POSITION AND INFLUENCE TO EFFECT LEGAL APPROVALS AND ONWARD TRANSFER OF THIS MONEY TO YOUR ACCOUNT WITH APPROPRIATE CLEARANCE FORMS OF THE MINISTRIES AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE DEPARTMENTS.
AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS BUSINESS YOU WILL BE GIVEN 15% OF THE TOTAL MONEY AND 80% WILL BE FOR MY VICE PRESIDENT FOR THE FACTORY WHILE 5% WILL BE FOR EXPENSES BOTH PARTIES MIGHT HAVE INCURRED DURING THE PROCESS OF
TRANSFERRING.
PLEASE SEND ME A MAIL IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ASSIST ME ON THIS AND ALSO INCLUDE PHONE, FAX NUMBER AND ALSO YOU OPEN A NEW ACCOUNT NUMBER AND SEND THE INFORMATION AND YOUR ADDRESS} FOR EASY. UPON YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THIS PROPOSAL, I WILL FORWARD TO YOU THE DETAILED PROCEDURE FOR THE TRANSACTION, HENCE THE WHOLE APPROVAL FOR THE TRANSFER WILL BE OFFICIAL AND LEGALLY PROCESSED.
I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON ON THIS EMAIL ADDRESSES,gov_caundar@yahoo.com
REMAIN BLESSED THANKS
BEST REGARDS
CAUNDAR KIMO
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