From March 15^th to May 31^st, JTB Corp., Sakai city, and Sakai Tourism and Convention Bureau Public Interest Incorporated Association are conducting experiments of next generation tourism business, Sakai Robot Tour, produced by GHEN Corporation with technical support from Sharp.

Sakai Robot Tour lets tourists to visit historic spots, such as Nintoku-Tenno-Ryo Tumulus, the largest grave in Japan with RoBoHoN, the world’s first robotic mobile phone as their personal tour guide.

Sakai Robot Tour starts at hotel AGORA Regency Osaka Sakai, located next to Sakai station of Nankai Line picking up RoBoHoN at bell desk in the ground floor. The fee is 1,000 JPY for 1 unit/day from 9:00 to 17:00. (For more information, call +81-72-224-1121)

 

 

 

Meet RoBoHoN

After registration and setting, RoBoHoN will recognize the name and face of the tourist, and RoBoHoN is ready to guide.

 

 

Tram

The tour starts with taking a tram as Sakai is famous with trams remaining in service today.

 

 

 

Observation Lobby in Sakai City Hall
The first spot is Observation Lobby on the 21st floor of Sakai City Hall. Visitors can enjoy 360 degrees view of Sakai from here.
At the lobby, RoBoHoN explains the direction to the Mozu and Furuichi Tumuli Clusters as well as what those tumulus are.

 

 

In the lobby, one of traditional crafts of Sakai, hand-woven rug was on display. Rugs in Sakai were derived from Chinese rugs, and since the number of rug makers are few, those picture-like hand-woven rugs are very rare today.

 

 

Daisen Park

The second spot is Daisen Park located in the Mozu and Furuichi Tumuli Clusters . In this park, two tea rooms recognized as national registered tangible cultural property by the Japanese government, called Shinan and Obaian are located. In Shinan, visitors can experience traditional Japanese tea ceremony in less-formal style.

 

 

 

Those tea rooms are one of the symbols of the era Sakai used to be the capital of tea culture. In addition to those tea rooms, Sakai City Museum, where historical item and artifacts related to Sakai are displayed, is also located in Daisen Park.

 

More Places to Visit

There are more places to visit in Sakai with RoBoHoN. Sakai Plaza of Rikyu and Akiko is a museum about the lives and characters of the Sakai born master of tea, Sen no Rikyu, and the poet and pioneer of Japanese modern literature, Akiko Yosano.
In Sakai City Traditional Crafts Museum, you can learn a lot about traditional craftsmanship ranging from food, clothes, and knives in Sakai.

 

 

 

 

As a city famous for tea culture, there are wide variety of sweets optimized for tea. RoBoHoN explains what they are if you are not familiar with traditional Japanese sweets.

 

Since Sakai is a huge city filled with historical places spanning over 15 centuries, a two day tour is recommended for fully enjoying Sakai. Spending one day around Daisen park, and another day to visit various museums throughout Sakai might be the best.

RoBoHoN as your personal tour guide, is a style of trips in the future. Experience the past and the future of Japan at the same time with Sakai Robot Tour. It is an experience only few cities can offer.