{"id":1407,"date":"2023-10-11T07:01:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T12:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/encyclopaedia-fortuita.com\/?p=1407"},"modified":"2024-03-31T07:53:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-31T12:53:21","slug":"japan-day-10-casio-inventions-gundam-and-french-fries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/encyclopaedia-fortuita.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/11\/japan-day-10-casio-inventions-gundam-and-french-fries\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan Day 10: Casio Inventions, Gundam, and French Fries"},"content":{"rendered":"

First, to go back to last night, I wanted to sleep but was prevented from doing so by street construction that began promptly at 8pm. Japanese culture centers around serving the community over individuals, so for them it makes sense to work at night, disturbing a few residents rather than inconvenience the flow of traffic and pedestrians during the day. Luckily they only were really noisy for a couple of hours, though the placard announcing the working times does say work will possibly happen each night I\u2019m here.<\/p>\n

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Right outside my window. The light-up cones are kind of cool though.<\/p><\/div>

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The placard says they are putting in \/ replacing underground cables.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

In the morning, I headed towards the Toshio Kashio Memorial Museum of Invention. This was the only thing, beyond my lodging, that I booked in advance and therefore had set in stone. The museum is in the middle of a very well-to-do residential neighborhood.<\/p>\n

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I can\u2019t imagine navigating the subway with a traditional Japanese bow.<\/p><\/div>

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I spied Mr. Chaplin on my way to the Toshio Kashio Memorial Museum of Invention.<\/p><\/div>

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It was a very nice neighborhood with large houses sitting inside walls, nice cars, and fancy (though cute) \u201csecurity systems\u201d. Fun aside: every dog I saw being walked in this neighborhood was extremely determined to mark their scent like every foot. It was all their owners could do to keep them walking.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Toshio Kashio was one of the four Kashio brothers who created Casio Computers, famous for their calculators, watches, musical instruments, and electronic dictionaries. Toshio Kashio had over 300 patents, including ones for automatic scoring systems for bowling. It\u2019s thanks to him and his brothers that we have some really cool gadgets, but also things we take for granted, like the number pad on our keyboards and calculators.<\/p>\n

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I have arrived at my destination.<\/p><\/div>
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The late Toshio Kashio\u2019s house. The museum dedicated to him and his inventions takes up a third. The neighbors agreed to let it be a museum (his wish) on the grounds that it only be open during weekdays and only to small groups at a time, hence the reservation system.<\/p><\/div>

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Toshio Kashio liked birds, so there are stained glass windows of birds in the house. The eagle here is supposed to represent him.<\/p><\/div>

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The entryway. The walls, which have a bit of a wave to them, were designed to complement the sound of the grand piano that used to be here.<\/p><\/div>

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The bird of paradise represents Kashio\u2019s wife.<\/p><\/div>

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The two birds in the stained glass are supposed to represent his children.<\/p><\/div>

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This is the Casio 14-A, the first compact electric calculator, from 1957. It works using a system of relays, and had four different operating modes. There are four known copies in museums (one in the Smithsonian), but this is the only fully functional copy. The numeric keypad arrangement became what is standard on calculators today.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n