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KONNICHIWA ROBOT, SAYONARA HUMAN? Construction and domestication of robots in Japan Roger Andre Søraa Master thesis in Science and Technology Studies (STS) Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture NTNU Trondheim 2014 Thesis summary This thesis explores the robots of Japan in a historical and cultural context, to see how they are co-produced among a wide variety of actors in a network. It is seen both from the creators' side, through their scripting of what a robot should be understood and used as, and also from the user-side, through domestication of the robots. I focus on how the concept of “boundary-objects”, have developed through Japanese history and laid the foundation for robot acceptance. Different understandings of the concept “robot” has been constructed through a cultural-, religious- and social-historical context, leading towards the science fiction representations of robots in manga and anime. Japanese people living today have read about and seen robots in fiction all their lives, a fictional script that has lead the engineers and inventors of real robots. In order to understand the robots in the Japanese society, I decided to seek them out, and have thus done one year of field-work in Tokyo and Osaka, in Japan. Methodologically, the thesis draws on observations and interviews in laboratories and science museums. How the people working on robots think about them are crucial in order to understand the robots themselves, and how people act around robots is greatly affected on the amount of “humanism” they perceive the robot to have. I also explain how it is to control a robot-twin, and see the challenges it raises when “he, she and it” becomes intermingled, and the gender and linguistic questions it arises when talking to and about robots. Lastly, I follow the robots out of the laboratories, and into society, to see how they affect users as a welfare-technology. Japan is a rapidly aging society, and in dire need of manpower, especially in the welfare sector. One solution is to use robots for certain tasks, such as fetching of medicine, walking assistance and cuddles. How the elderly- users accept and domesticate robots tells us a lot on what roles the robots can and can-not do, and also how they can be developed further. Constructing an identity of a robot nation thus consists of many elements that together co-produces the network at large, with an underlying cultural acceptance of boundary-objects, such as robots. i ii Acknowledgments A journey is best travelled in good company, and I have had great help from many different people. First and foremost I want to thank my thesis councilors Per Østby and Stig Kvaal for great ideas and counseling. I would also like to thank Nora Levold who made me interested in the Studies of Science and Technology in the first place, and who opened my eyes for the welfare aspect of the field. In addition, student counselor Jan G. Grande was very helpful with bureaucratic things. The journey would not have been possible without knowledge of the Japanese language, so “arigatou” (thanks) to my Japanese teacher at NTNU, Sachiko-sensei for making Japanese such a fun language to learn. Torimitsu-sensei at the Naganuma language school in Tokyo was also a great inspiration. On my one year exchange at Kwansai Gakuin University, I had great help from several professors: Timothy Kern, Zijiang Fan, Timothy Tsu and Thomas Burkman, each introduced me to parts of the culture that was crucial for this thesis. I also thank my informants, who allowed me to interview them. I would like to thank Deimantè-chan, my travel-mate, for going on crazy journeys with me to ancient forests, dangerous volcanoes, ninja-villages and wild rivers. Being so alive and free helped me gain perspective. I would also like to thank my family who always supports me, even though I make some atypical choices, like moving to Japan. Especially my father who took time to come and experience Japan with me. In addition to also visiting me, I would like to thank Fabian-chan for cheering me up, Camilla-chan for designing my business-cards, Anna-chan for keeping all my things in Norway while I was away, and Elle-chan and Marte-chan for corrections. I lastly thank my grandparents who inspired me to research specifically on welfare- technology, and who helped put the whole study in perspective, and made me see that it was not just a study on something fun, but also on something that can benefit people, especially the elderly population. I come from a small village at the outskirts of the world, in the top north of the small Scandinavian country of Norway, and staying and doing fieldwork in one of the world's largest nation's in terms of intellectual capacity, economical power, and ingenuity was a great and none the less, extremely fun challenge and experience. I hope to indulge the reader in some of the same wanderlust, thrill and exploring scientific awe that I have experienced in my year writing this thesis in Japan. I wish that you, the reader, will have a pleasant journey through this thesis, and perhaps be inspired to travel to Japan yourself, which in my opinion is the best place on earth. Maybe this is your first dive into the world of robotics, so “itterasshai, kiotsukete”, please go and come back safe! 16.08.2014. Trondheim, Norway. Roger Andre Søraa. iii iv Contents Thesis summary.....................................................................................................i Acknowledgments...............................................................................................iii Preface - A day in the land of the rising robots ..................................................ix 1 – How to study Japanese robots? .............................................................1 What is a robot?..........................................................................................1 Previous research .......................................................................................4 Studies of Science and Technology......................................................................8 Actor-network theory ................................................................................8 Co-production...........................................................................................10 Script.........................................................................................................10 Domestication...........................................................................................11 Method – How to talk about robots?..................................................................12 Interviewing – talking about robots..........................................................12 Observing – looking at robots...................................................................14 Thesis outline......................................................................................................15 2 - From iron tools to ASIMO....................................................................17 Pre-medieval (0 - 1 185 AD), hello world..........................................................18 Android emperors ....................................................................................19 Cyborg Buddhas .......................................................................................20 The shogunates (1185–1868), terminators among us.........................................22 Robot Samurai..........................................................................................23 Shinto – friendly gods programmed to aid you........................................25 Imperial Japan (1868–1945), playing with the big boys....................................27 Jesus Christ robot-star...............................................................................28 The emperors new compose......................................................................29 Post war time (1945–present), let it grow...........................................................30 Reading manga, watching anime..............................................................32 The Tetsujin-28-go statue –robots as protectors.......................................32 The Studio Ghibli robot statue - between good and evil..........................34 Cultural robots?..................................................................................................36 3 - Then man made the machine in his own likeness.................................37 Meet the robots...................................................................................................38 Robot dog AIBO wants to be your pet......................................................38 Android ASIMO wants to be your assistant ............................................41 v Android Geminoid wants to be you..........................................................45 Constructing robot identity - reconstructing human identity..............................49 Becoming the android...............................................................................49 A cyborg among us...................................................................................51 He, she or it? The robotic gender .............................................................53 Lost in robot-translation.....................................................................................56 To be or not to be - iru or aru? .................................................................57 The rudeness of not referring to robots by their names............................57