Clockman: Japanese alarm clock has its own personality (video)

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Monday, November 16th, 2009

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Japan sure has a penchant for weird alarm clocks, as we blogged many times in the past. And Clockman, a new model from major Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy, isn’t really normal either. Reasons: It looks creepy, it can speak, its eyes and mouth can move and Takara Tomy says it even has a personality and “blood type” (seriously).

There are four different versions of the clock, and each of them works differently. The Clockman with blood type A, for example, is the polite type. He wakes you up by saying “It’s time to wake up. Please wake up.”, while the one with blood type 0 will try to get you going in snooze mode by shouting “Fight! Make an effort! Stand up! Fight!” (in Japanese).

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The Clockman is sized at 80×83×80mm and weighs 297g. Takara Tomy says each one can speak 300 pre-installed sentences.

The Clockman will hit Japanese stores November 19. It’s available for pre-order at the Japan Trend Shop for everyone living outside Japan (price: $57).

Watch the video (in English) below to see the Clockman in action. It’s creepy.

Via IT Media [JP] and The Japan Trend Shop

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