A few months back, I enjoyed assembling the Gakken Karakuri Somersault Doll (I got mine online from the Maker Shed).  What’s amazing about the doll is that it slowly completes a series of backward somersaults due to its internal mechanics and the potential energy it has from starting on the top of several steps.  The mechanism was designed long ago during the Japanese Edo period.  The hardest part of the build is probably threading the [...]

I’ve enjoyed assembling Gakken kits for some time. Ever since I had seen videos of Theo Jansen’s work, I’d wanted to build models of his work.  Then I heard about the Gakken kit but it wasn’t yet imported to the U.S.  I was fortunate enough to pick one up in Japan at the Miraikan museum shop in Tokyo where they’d just finished an exhibit of his work (I also sought out other Gakken kits while I [...]