Miyazaki Steam-Punk Clock at NTV Shiodome

This is a do not miss BIG clock (a glockenspiel as it has mechanical animations) at the NTV headquarters in the Shiodome, Tokyo.  The steam-punk themed clock is designed by the famous Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghbli is the largest animated clock in the world.  The clock was completed in December 2006 after a design period of over four years.  I didn't know about this clock when I visited and wandered over when I was exploring around the Shiodome.  I managed to see the complete animated sequence and it was pretty fun to watch.

Miyazaki's Big Animated Clock at NTV / Tostzilla

The enormous copper clock is 12 metres high, 18 metres wide, and has extensive animations timed to music including firing steam cannon, moving figures, and moving legs like Howl's Moving Castle.  In fact, the whole contraption reminds me of Howl's Moving Castle.  The clock was built by sculptor Shachimaru Kunio who also built the giant Laputa robot on the rooftop of the Ghibli museum.  Miyazaki said that he wanted to make something that would be loved by future generations that would last beyond his animated characters. Try to be there on the hour, but the animations don't always run every hour.

The site below has many close up pictures of the clock for your viewing pleasure.
http://muza-chan.net/japan/index.php/blog/tokyo-steampunk-hayao-miyazaki-clock

NTV Site about their "Large Clock"  Flash or Google Chrome is required.  It is in Japanese.
http://www.ntv.co.jp/tokei/

Apparently, the clock animations may not be running while there are power saving measures in place, so the possibility you may not see the mechanical sequences does exist.  Other than this clock there are many things to see in the Shiodome area and I have covered them in this post here.