Anime-Artist-Designed Ship to Run Outside My Window
asahi.com: “Himiko” - a water bus designed by manga and anime artist Leiji Matsumoto - will start operations on the Sumida river at the end of March.
Matsumoto is known for the manga “Galaxy Express 999″ and the TV series “Space Battleship Yamato”. Some web pages also credit him with directing my childhood favorite “Captain Future” (images), but I don’t think that is accurate.
“Himiko” is going to operate between Asakusa and Odaiba, so I will be able to see her from my apartment. 33.3m long, she features a “space ship motif” and a “silver-metallic, streamlined” hull. A Flash presentation can be found on the home page of Tokyo Cruise Ship CO., LTD.
This could be pretty cheesy or very cool. Either way, I’m looking forward to it!
Update: The ship is operating now.
October 2nd, 2005 at 6:03
Wow you guys write pretty good in english. Many of my friends cant quite speak the language that well. Which part of Japan do you stay in? I live in Osaka. Its an ok place but I wanna move to Tokyo some day.
The bus looks nice but a bit overly done. In todays practicality an actual company wouldnt go for a design that unusual. But from an artistic point of view, it looks pretty cool.