A mechanical taiko drum clock was erected in the plaza in front of JR Kurume Station on November 13, 1999, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of Kurume’s great figures, Tanaka Hisashige (who contributed to the development of modern Japanese technology and is nicknamed “the Thomas Edison of Japan”), as well as the 110th anniversaries of both Kurume City and Kyushu Railway’s (now JR Kyushu’s) Kurume Station. The clock was designed to look like a taiko drum clock that Tanaka Hisashige made. At given times, the clock face turns around and a “Giemon” doll comes out to explain some of Hisashige’s works through gestures. *About the Clock: Height - 5.94 meters (about 19.5 feet); diameter of clock face - 2.6 meters (about 8.5 feet); seated height of Giemon doll - 0.9 meters (about 3 feet) *Show times: Every hour on the hour between 8am and 7pm for about 5 minutes *Works Introduced: Mujinto (a lantern supplied oil by compressed air), Mannen Kaiten Goma (eternally spinning top), Yumihiki Doji (robotic child that shoots arrows from a bow), Doji Sakazukidai (robotic child that carries a sake cup), Mannen Dokei (Myriad year clock), Jokisha (model steam engine) *Background music: Musical pieces by people who are from or related to Kurume City Performance Times ・Sukiyaki: Composer – Hachidai Nakamura; 8am, noon, 4pm ・Red Sweet Pea: Singer – Seiko Matsuda; 9am, 1pm, 5pm ・My Request: Singer – Checkers; 10am, 2pm, 6pm ・Chorus Piece “Chikugo River” ・Chapter 5 “Kako”: Songwriter – Yutaka Maruyama; Composer – Ikuma Dan; 11am, 3pm, 7pm ・Narrator: Mr. Kurita Yoshinari who works as a presenter and personality on TV and radio Local Legend: Tanaka Hisashige, the Thomas Edison of Japan (“Karakuri Giemon”; 1799 - 1881) Tanaka Hisashige was born into the home of a tortoiseshell craftsman in the town of Tori (Kurume City) in 1799. He showed talent as an inventor from a young age and invented the Egasuri weaving method in 1813 at just 15 years old. Hisashige later demonstrated new works like a hydro-powered robot at a festival at Gokoku Shrine in addition to giving performances in Osaka and Edo (now Tokyo), receiving a good reputation by the age of 21. Somewhere along the way, he picked up the nickname “Karakuri Giemon”, which equates to “the Thomas Edison of Japan”. He later moved to Osaka and Kyoto where he studied astronomy and about the West. He completed his greatest work in the form of a Myriad clock (the “Mannen Dokei”) as a 53-year-old man.