Robo Square in Fukuoka Tower is an interesting place to view modern Japanese robotics. During my visit, we watched robo-battles and petted realistic mini-robo-dinosaurs.

The Hello Kitty Robot 「Hello Kitty ROBO/ハローキティロボ」 is a virtual friend who you can have conversations with. Amazon.com’s description says “Hello Kitty Robot will keep your child happily occupied”.

Canon DIGITAL IXUS 65 (5.8mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO119)
Hello Kitty Robo at Robo Square, Fukuoka

I visited Fukuoka on a whim. Whilst traveling around Osaka and talking to locals about interesting places to visit, guys frequently mentioned that we should visit Fukuoka to meet some “kawaii girls”. While we did meet some lovely girls, we had a lot of fun seeing the sights of Fukuoka on hire bicycles.

Fukuoka is on the island of Kyūshū south of the main island Honshū, attached to mainland Japan by rail and highway. You can access the island by bullet train with a JR Pass (the standard type covering all of Japan)

View this location – Map coordinates: 33.59335,130.351482.