From samurai and ninjas to giant mecha like Gundam or the beautiful films of Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese history and culture inspire LEGO builders all over the world. With contributors fluent in Japanese, The Brothers Brick also brings you coverage of the people and events in the large LEGO fan community in Japan itself.
A temple in clouds of steam and smoke, that is. This Japanese shrine reminds me more than a bit of the great wizard Howl’s Moving Castle, though Jimmy’s (6kyubi6) version has some different styling cues. It’s gorgeous all the same, and sure to instill a healthy respect for religion in anyone who comes across its Continue reading →
Flickr user legorobo:waka has posted his wa F8 Lanius, a truly sweet mecha that hits all the right notes. It has classic anime styling, great details, articulation and best of all, houses a minfig pilot. In particular, the details I like best are the feet/ landing gear, the hands and guns, and the classic Japanese style Continue reading →
Tim had previously featured Moko’s High School girl sculpture, but I had to post an update after running across the latest variant. I amazed by the amount of textural detail achieved with the clothing by using relatively simple bricks alone. Check out more on Moko’s blog
Schfio made them and they are too adorable for words. Tama and Friends is Japanese Anime series that originally ran in 1994.
Japanese builders make mecha like Canadians make maple syrup. Now I don’t think mecha would taste nearly as good on my waffles, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t love them equally. Flickr user Dak Yuki proves my point with his Armored Core: Be sure to browse through the full photoset for all the cool Continue reading →
This latest Iron Builder contest has provided an incredible slew of fascinating models from the uuber talented contestants. Sean and Steph Mayo pull out all the stops with this monstrous sushi roll fit for a giant. And Bart De Dobbelaer fires back with this super cool Monolith. I don’t even pretend to know what’s going Continue reading →
Pictures of an upcoming Lego Architecture has surfaced for 21017 Imperial Hotel. There’s no word on the price or release date, but you can find more pictures on Eurobricks. Edit (AB): A few notes about the real-world building: Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, and construction was finished on the Maya Revival-style Continue reading →
Japanese artist Azuma Makoto usually creates his botanically themed pieces from real plants, but occasionally dabbles with materials as diverse as Astroturf and LEGO. One of his latest pieces is a gorgeous recreation of a bonsai pine tree built from bricks. Click the pic to see more photos on the artist’s Facebook page. Via MAKE, Continue reading →
Back in 2009, the Internet marveled at Japanese builder talapz‘s mind-boggling pop-up Kinkaku-ji pavilion. Now, he’s at it again! This time, he’s built Todai-ji, a temple in Nara, Japan that houses the world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha. Nara was one of Japan’s first capitol cities, before Kyoto and Tokyo. Todai-ji and the Giant Buddha Continue reading →
Matsumoto Castle is an unusual castle in Japan that has striking black walls instead of the more familiar white walls of Himeji or Osaka castles. Blake Baer captures many wonderful details, from the red balcony to the slats on the black walls. Thanks to reader Jake for making sure I saw this.
The second fan-created LEGO CUUSOO project has just been released in Japan, and will be available from the LEGO Shop online later in 2012. The set depicts the Hayabusa probe, which brought bits of an asteroid back to earth. Here’s the full press release: BILLUND, Denmark – The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa, the second LEGO® CUUSOO Continue reading →
Something I look forward to every New Year’s Day is the lovely LEGO creations by Japanese builders celebrating the new year, most often incorporating the animal from the Chinese Zodiac. I generally wait a couple days and do a roundup, but Moko‘s dragon is too gorgeous to share later. (And since we get at least Continue reading →
Someone mentioned during the FBTB+TBB panel at BrickCon on Sunday that they missed the Japanese-focused LEGO models we used to feature, so I was very glad to run across this adorable little van by 1103spa (whose blog features some pretty cool Antarctic vehicles, too).
During my wife and my last two trips to Japan, the complex at Kiyomizu-dera has been the first stop after detraining at Kyoto Station so it made me happy to see among Matija Grguric’s excellent series of world landmarks (including Easter Island heads and Great Wall) this colorful pagoda based on the one at Kiyomizu-dera. Continue reading →
Our final Hayao Miyazaki tribute for the evening — and last post title in Japanese, for now — is this scene from My Neighbor Totoro by Andy Hung (andybear@hk), who lights up the night with an electrified Catbus in another great entry for the LEGO contest in Hong Kong. The sleeping Totoro in the second Continue reading →
