Medicom Toys are the Japanese company widely credited for starting the vinyl toy phenomenon and introducing the U.K. to cult classics such as the Bearbrick and Kubrick toy lines. Following their debut in the clothing market with Medicom Life, they are already showing signs of cult status for their initial range of accessories and slippers (which are available from goodhood.co.uk, naturally). Medicom got me thinking about the whole Japanese toy market / giant robot thing and reminded me of a documentary I saw that looked into how these toys and giant robots became so popular in Japan.
I had always assumed that all things “Mecha” were so popular in Japan because the Japanese are as immature as I am (I’m a big Japanese toy fan), but it turns out that it goes far deeper than that and actually stems from Japanese religion. Apparently the two main religions in Japan are “Shinto” and “Buddhism” and both following fairly similar doctrine. Most Japanese people consider themselves either Shinto, Buddhist or a mixture of both and it is the “Shinto” religion that seems to be responsible for the popularity and embracing of giant robots in Japan.
Shinto doesn’t have one god, but many different gods.
Gods in the Shinto religion are called “Kami” and they are actually considered to be sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, rocks, mountains and trees rather than all-powerful entities with beards. As part of the documentary, a Japanese religious-type-interviewee said that this belief that even inanimate objects such as rocks can have a soul makes it easy for Japanese people to view these robots as “alive” and embrace their “character” readily. Finally!! A religion that’s doing something positive for a change!
If you think it all sounds a little far-fetched that inanimate objects can have soul, just check out our Medicom Life slippers for proof – pure Shinto in action!