ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the personal processes by which humanoid robotics became an intensive site of dreaming in contemporary Japan. It argues how building humanoid robots as a leisure activity is metaphorically conceptualized through the concept of the dream in contemporary Japan. The chapter focuses on the rise of amateur robot builders in 2000s Japan, analysing how engagement in the nascent techno-culture of humanoid robotics as leisure activity shapes an intermediate area of experiencing that lies between fantasy and reality. In this dream-like, ambivalent third state, personal robot building enables the redefinition of self and identity that many robot-builders experience as a result of their endeavors. The chapter discusses how the ongoing transformation of human resource cultivation systems, accompanied by the ever-increasing rationalization of working environments, influences the formation of masculine selves and identities among corporate engineers. As an arena of play, romanticism, and dreams, robot building as a leisure activity reshapes Horikawa's self.
