picture of the day

Duck!

36 Comments

This 10-meter-tall rubber duck, part of the Suito Osaka Rubber Duck Project, and designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, has been spotted on Osaka's waterways recently.

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36 Comments
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Comment to Duck? reminds me of the proverb: "Never waste powder on a dead duck."

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Love the duck.

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That duck is too big for my bathtub.

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designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman

Looks like a scaled up version of a traditional rubber duck. They've been around for hundreds of years, so I doubt we can give Hofman that credit.

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it took a "dutch artist" to design a duckling ?? i'm sure a 3 year old could design that. that's one "ugly duckling" .

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Japan does not need a dutch artist to design a rubber duck. What is the idea behind this thing? Honestly, what next? It is like asking the foreigners to draw manga. Well, some of the manga by foreigners are equally good but nothing like the good manga(minus porn) by Japanese.

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Well, some of the manga by foreigners are equally good but nothing like the good manga(minus porn) by Japanese

Isn't most Japanese manga drawn in other Asian countries???

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this is ducking stupid.

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So cute!

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What is the purpose of this duck? In what way this can be viewed as a piece of art?

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LoveUSA: Touche... A pretty ordinary art comment by this fellow and 'whoosh' is the sound it's meaning makes as it goes over my head. Claes Oldenberg started this idea making giant sculptures of ordinary things in the 60s and 70s. towering clothes pegs, giant hotdogs etc., so this is not even very original.

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This is not designed, just copied.

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What a cute duck. =D

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What is good about it? A joke?

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I think someones wasting a lot of time and resources. If the designer is crazy over creating humungus things, then he needs to do his work in a place where space is not an issue.

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Loving the duck! Wish I could have one of my own, but the shipping ... It's hard to hate on a bathtub ducky. Just about anyone, excluding grinches, of course, would smile and laugh a little, seeing such a thing floating out on the water.

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fyi, from what I understand and read earlier this year regarding this "project", the dutch artist was already building it from a design he did a long time ago. It's more then the shape, it also involves the internal support structure. Then a group for Art awareness in Osaka heard about it after he approached them about displaying it. They said yes, and it will be on display for a while then moving to other countries. So, it's not that Japan "asked" a Dutch artist to design a duck.....

and what is the deal with all the hate on JT? Why are so many readers here so quick to make negative remarks about Japan and these articles? Do you all hate living in Japan that much? Why stay? I don't get it.

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What is the purpose? Is it adverting? Raising awareness to something?

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societymike and what is the deal with all the hate on JT?

I think it's just a stage (culture shock) that everyone goes through usually in the second year of living in another country. Let them be. I actually enjoy reading their comments :) Let's understand each other and the world will be a better place.

And btw, the duck is cute. I'd go there some day to take a picture before it flies to another country or a huge cat eats it :)

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Hey guys, purpose? resources? meaning?? Don't be so serious. We're not machines whose actions are only defined by these things. We humans sometime need something completely useless/meaningless just like this. Why don't you just accept it? A huge stupid duck.. I like it!!

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I appreciate the whimsy. I only hope it's recyclable.

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I can see it now.......Godzilla v the duck.

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Dutch ducky, yummie

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If hat duck would have been anywhere else, it wouldn't make any sense. Try to go to Osaka Tower and you will soon understand what Osaka is all about and that duck only confirms it.

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Like it? I like it just fine. I'm happy enough to let it be there and entertain, just not sure what the statement (if any at all?) is supposed to be.

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Ducky! ^0^! Kawaii!

Okay, now I go back to work.

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This scores a minus 4 on the cute meter.

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In a place that I used to live, we had rubber duck races for charity. Not huge, expensive prizes but a large variety of them, they got alot of attention. It was so off-the-wall that the contest itself got alot of attention. Imitators but no successors. It is still very popular. When I first found out about them, I thought, how do they keep all these ducks from being washed down the river, as garbage? That puzzel was solved when I went. They picked them up by hand, from the banks and from rowboats individually the SECOND the contest was over. Now the contest. First, it was a madhouse. People everywhere, all over the place, the banks, the bridges, it was crazyness. Second, it was probably one of the best times I ever had in that town. The first duck to hit the finish line won the grand prize and those first to follow would have the rest of the prizes. At the time, it was five bucks a duck. Each duck had a number. The ducks were jealously gaurded and watched like hawks. Nobody's duck was going to go missing. Even if they marched into the river and got them themselves. I got there thinking I was early. It was crowded and a little wild by the time I got there. Five minutes before the race, it was MAYHEM. I have to add there, the fun kind of mayhem. It was around the fourth and everyone was in a good mood. Filled into the trees and "to the rafters." The only place that wasn't filled was one little bridge and it dawned on me why. Three side tipping trucks slid in slowly and I realized where the ducks would be dumped--and out they came. On a fast moving river, they rushed out in a whoosh. They moved faster that I had figured and the race was over in 12 minutes. Total blast.

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Ernie on Sesame St just wet his pants at the sight of that...

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You just typed all this on a website for the likes of me to read...

"In a place that I used to live, we had rubber duck races for charity. Not huge, expensive prizes but a large variety of them, they got alot of attention. It was so off-the-wall that the contest itself got alot of attention. Imitators but no successors. It is still very popular. When I first found out about them, I thought, how do they keep all these ducks from being washed down the river, as garbage? That puzzel was solved when I went. They picked them up by hand, from the banks and from rowboats individually the SECOND the contest was over. Now the contest. First, it was a madhouse. People everywhere, all over the place, the banks, the bridges, it was crazyness. Second, it was probably one of the best times I ever had in that town. The first duck to hit the finish line won the grand prize and those first to follow would have the rest of the prizes. At the time, it was five bucks a duck. Each duck had a number. The ducks were jealously gaurded and watched like hawks. Nobody's duck was going to go missing. Even if they marched into the river and got them themselves. I got there thinking I was early. It was crowded and a little wild by the time I got there. Five minutes before the race, it was MAYHEM. I have to add there, the fun kind of mayhem. It was around the fourth and everyone was in a good mood. Filled into the trees and "to the rafters." The only place that wasn't filled was one little bridge and it dawned on me why. Three side tipping trucks slid in slowly and I realized where the ducks would be dumped--and out they came. On a fast moving river, they rushed out in a whoosh. They moved faster that I had figured and the race was over in 12 minutes. Total blast."

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a duck or a schmuck ? with some luck it'll leave in a truck b4 it gets stuck in some muck .

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The duck always makes me laugh. Something about the head/body proportions and that goofy beak/bill.

Most of you probably know this, but this duck has been all over Europe. It is famous for getting people to think it is shopped.

I sure hope nobody throws it at me. I don't think I could.... well, you know.

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If that's the rubber ducky, I'd hate to see the size of the tub.

Taka

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That duck is cute.

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I want to ride it.

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