TokyoTomo Travel Guide

All Nippon Airways and the creator of Mobile Suite Gundam, Bandai Co Ltd, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of GUNDAM model kits’ sales by introducing a 1/144 and 1/48 scale model of a special-edition GUNDAM model kits, exclusively designed with ANA corporate colors. Travelers on all domestic and international flights can now purchase the model kits, retailing at 3000yen and 8500yen, only available through February 2011.

ANA will also carry a special livery bearing real-life size graphics of the giant robot on its Boeing B777-300 aircraft, dubbed ANA Gundam Jet, is set to make its maiden flight in a few days, on the Itami bound flight leaving from Haneda. The ANA Gundam Jet will later operate on other ANA domestic routes until March 2011. Passengers boarding the maiden ANA Gundam Jet flight on Jul 16 (ANA25) will receive an “Original Boarding ANA Gundam Jet Certificate” as a momento.

Mobile Suit GUNDAM (Kido Senshi GUNDAM), a robot character from the eponymous animated TV series that took Japan by storm in the eighties and has remained popular for more than 30 years. Mobile Suit GUNDAM animated TV series were first aired in 1979 and by the early eighties, it became known as “Real Robot series” for their realism, and pioneered a revolution in robot-themed anime. The series initially targeted a teenage audience and to this day it has a strong fan base in Japan. Last year, a life-sized GUNDAM model made headlines when it was installed in Tokyo’s Odaiba Island to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary.