Skilled engineers in Western countries also manufactured many automata but most of them were made for the nobility or upper-class.

Conversely automata in Japan were not made just for the nobility and feudal lords but for also entertaining commoners at shows which were public entertainment, or in products such as tea-serving doll, and festival-float automata.

The automaton known as “Yumihiki Doji (Boy shooting a bow) consists of 12 moving parts which move through the power of a spring which is transmitted through six cams and strings. The structure is quite simple yet it can notch four arrows to the bowstring one after another, take aim at the target and release them.

Yumihiki Doji
(Possessed by Kurume City Education Board)

Yumihiki Doji
(Possessed by Kurume City Education Board)
50.0 W 30.0 D 30.0(cm)
The automaton notches arrows to the bowstring and releases them one after another. (13,607KB)
(Click the image to see the movie.)

We were rather surprised at the mechanism in the automaton which can hit targets from more than 10 m away, and at the same time we discovered that the idea of automata are somewhat unique to Japan. The thing is that it does occasionally miss the target so if it was shown to the nobility and feudal lords missing the target would be considered discourteous to them and also a disgrace to the manufacturer.

However, automata for use in entertaining commoners should be used in a way that does not bore them, hence missing the target seems to have been an important part of the performance. Moreover, the noh-mask-like face of the automaton can then express its emotions through delicate gestures and look disappointed when it misses the target and happy when it hits it.

A culture wherein automata making mistakes and expressing emotions can be enjoyed, which continued for hundreds of years, is the key to understanding the current status of robot superpower Japan where pet and humanoid robots are being that eagerly developed that people in other countries find it strange.

Kazuyoshi Suzuki
Senior curator of National Museum of Nature and Science

Specialty is the history of scientific technology. Involved in surveying and researching scientific and technological developments in Japan: Especially that of the Edo Period up to present time on a demonstration basis. Has experienced being a member of the METI “Traditional skill research study group”, and a conceptual committee member and exhibition supervision committee member of Osaka Children’s Castle, TOYOTA Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, EDO-TOKYO MUSEUM, and other museums.