Tyras612:
Stupid. No.
Pointless. No.
Awesome. Yes
Worth it. Of course.

Gundam is the Star Wars of Japan but with a bit higher super fanboy concentration.
Gundam is a symbol to the Japanese people so there's nothing stupid or pointless about making a statue in it's honor.

Idk, its hard to say if it was worth it.
Gundam has been around a long time, and like John Funk touched on in his artical, Gundam Represents something that Japan has been striving for sence it started pushing forword into technological advancement.
Hope and a Future.
So in my opinion, Yes.
It was worth it, and if i had the money, a replaca of the Burning Gundam would be standing in my backyard right now. :)

Frank_Sinatra_:
Gundam is the Star Wars of Japan but with a bit higher super fanboy concentration.

Give me a nudge when you find a 60 foot statue of an X-Wing or something please, I'd like to see that.

As for why they're so fascinated by them? Theres millions of the buggers crammed on a small island; if I was in that situation it wouldn't be long before I started dreaming up giant robots to help lower the surrounding population! ;)

Fasckira:

Frank_Sinatra_:
Gundam is the Star Wars of Japan but with a bit higher super fanboy concentration.

Give me a nudge when you find a 60 foot statue of an X-Wing or something please, I'd like to see that.

As for why they're so fascinated by them? Theres millions of the buggers crammed on a small island; if I was in that situation it wouldn't be long before I started dreaming up giant robots to help lower the surrounding population! ;)

We may not make enormous statues of X-Wings but look at all the Star Wars paraphernalia. Yeah that's what I thought.
For your second paragraph, no. I know your trying to me clever but to Japan Gundam represents a future and hope.
After you reference Gundam and delve into it's culture you can come back and talk to me.
Here I'll get you started.

Frank_Sinatra_:

We may not make enormous statues of X-Wings but look at all the Star Wars paraphernalia. Yeah that's what I thought.

Well yes, but they already have loads of Gundam paraphernalia as well.

Frank_Sinatra_:
For your second paragraph, no. I know your trying to me clever but to Japan Gundam represents a future and hope.
After you reference Gundam and delve into it's culture you can come back and talk to me.
Here I'll get you started.

You're right, it was just supposed to be a little jest but you cant take an article that covers the opinions of fans and use that as a blanket fact that represents the entire belief held by every person living or from Japan.

EDIT: On reflection you could do that, but Im implying that it wouldn't be right. :p

Fasckira:
You're right, it was just supposed to be a little jest but you cant take an article that covers the opinions of fans and use that as a blanket fact that represents the entire belief held by every person living or from Japan.

The thing is though, that in Japan it's a pretty wide consensus that Gundam fucking rocks.
To quote John Funk:

CantFaketheFunk:
This is, after all, the country with themed Zeon and Federation bars where one can order cocktails like the Zaku Tank or the Black Tri-Stars. This is the country where iconic antagonist Char Aznable decorates everything from mobile phones to Game Boy Advance handhelds to credit cards. This is the country where megapopular J-rocker (and notorious Gundam fan) Gackt played the famous Gihren Zabi funeral speech before a concert and got a stadium full of screaming girls to join him in chanting "Sieg Zeon!" This is a country where Gundam arcade games take place in a life-size recreation of a mobile suit cockpit.

Frank_Sinatra_:
-snip-

Yes, but how does that relate to all of Japan seeing it as something that represents hope and future?

Amnestic:
The reason it was 60 foot statue because it was a 1:1 scale. Life size.

We have built life size X-Wings. Some of them even fly (albeit for not very long before breaking apart).

After reading that link, I stand very much corrected!

No need to explore anything it's because Giant robots are farking awesome.

OK jokes aside I'd hazard a guess that it has something to to with Japanese culture and psychology. Japanese, males especially, work A LOT. It's the only first world country I know of where death by overwork is a serious problem. So you could take this one of 2 ways. Either A: They feel a kinship with robots because they feel like robots in there lives. Or B: They envision a future where robots can take up some of the work load giving them a break.