A new genus and species was announced right in the middle of the Dinosaur Exhibition. And it wasn't just Edmontosaurus (or Brachylophosaurus or Kerberosaurus) mukawaensis, but a genuine new genus and species. It was worth secretly cheering for it last time. Given this, I couldn't miss seeing the magnificent former Mukawaryu with its new name panel, so I went to the Dinosaur Expo for the fourth time (the third time was after the summer holidays) in mid-September. Of course, I also went for the Kamuisaurus trading cards that were being distributed as souvenirs.

Perhaps thanks to the Kamui effect, it was quite lively for a weekday. After greeting Deinonychus, I headed straight for the eagerly anticipated Kamuisaurus. It wasn't as festive as I'd hoped, but the congratulatory red round panel for "Commemorating the Naming of a New Species" and the newly installed illuminated "Kamuisaurus" panel on the wall were proudly displayed. After enjoying the aroma of a new genus and species for a while, I returned to the Deinocherius display.
This time, I focused on Deinonychus, Deinocherius, and Kamuisaurus, so I spent plenty of time observing each. While watching the NHK Special video "Deinocherius vs. Tarbosaurus" that was playing in the Deinocherius corner, which I had previously neglected to watch, to my surprise, Deinocherius body-slammed Tarbosaurus with a front suplex. (It seems I overlooked it during the broadcast, overwhelmed by Deinocherius's comical face.) Is that really okay?! Are you King Kong? Or Ultraman? I was indignant at the idea of a museum showing such dinosaur wrestling that made me want to interject, but the other visitors found it entertaining, and it's these kinds of things that drew in over 500,000 visitors, so I guess it's acceptable now.
　
Now... I have to confess, my main destination this time was the shop. As a collector, I couldn't miss out on the first Kamuisaurus merchandise. I was fully prepared to buy a revised edition of the catalog if there was one, but unfortunately, there wasn't. (You can download a "correction table" from the "Dinosaur Expo 2019" website to revise it yourself.)
Even though there was a "Congratulations Kamuisaurus" corner for official merchandise, it seemed they had no intention of changing the names on the packaging at this point.
Amidst all this, Mukawa Town, the local area, truly delivered. It was the 3D paper puzzle of Mukawaryu that I introduced last time. (Image 1)


They had probably made it in advance and were waiting for the scientific name to be announced. It was beautifully replaced. This is undoubtedly the first Kamuisaurus figure. However, this means that the version with "Mukawaryu" written in brush-style lettering is now even more valuable, and I'm really glad I kept the packaging.

The Tyrannosaurus from Mukawa Town as well (Image 2)


In the previous treasure house entry, I wrote something like, "If I don't go after summer vacation, I'll surely regret it," and luckily or unluckily, they were still there when I went for the third time, so I bought them immediately (by the fourth time, all three types of figures from Mukawa were gone!). I avoided regret, but the figures and paper craft cost about 10,000 yen. The 3D paper craft was as excellent as the "Mukawaryu" and "Phosphorosaurus" I introduced last time, but the figures, while well-sculpted, were a bit disappointing with noticeable parting lines and sloppy paintwork. I couldn't help but touch them up a bit. As I wrote before, these Tyrannosaurs are modeled after "Scotty" from the exhibition. Named Tyrannosaurus figures have been rare since "Sue" in 2005, but that Sue figure didn't reflect the skeleton at the venue. This time, it's definitely Scotty.

About this Tyrannosaurus exhibit. "How to Exhibit Dinosaurs" (by Makoto Manabe, CCC Media House), published in conjunction with the Dinosaur Expo 2019, has some interesting insights. Dr. Manabe, who supervised the Dinosaur Expo, initially didn't plan to exhibit a Tyrannosaurus, but it was decided due to the organizers, NHK and Asahi Shimbun, who felt "a Dinosaur Expo really needs a Tyrannosaurus." The book also includes a story by Hiroaki Tanaka, who created the prototypes for the three types of figures, stating that the Tyrannosaurus was indeed an additional order. This book is very interesting, providing behind-the-scenes stories of this exhibition and monologues from the people involved. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it, and perhaps consider visiting the "Dinosaur Expo 2019" again, which has about a week left.

*Collecting the three types of figures from Mukawa will look like this. (Image 3)


In this book and an essay collection "A Hectic but Pleasant Daily Life of a Dinosaur Doctor" (Bookman Inc.) published around the same time, Dr. Manabe passionately expresses his feelings for Deinonychus. (My feelings for Deinonychus can be found in New Treasure House Vol.11) However, it's a shame that despite being one of the three main highlights and gracing the cover of the catalog, Deinonychus merchandise only consists of stuffed animals, back scratchers, and gashapon. (Image 4)


Perhaps it would have been made into a figure instead of the Tyrannosaurus. There are surprisingly few full-fledged Deinonychus figures or skeletal models, so I wanted one. The stuffed animal is appealing because it accurately captures the key features, but in terms of popularity, it seems to have been outdone by the NHK-style Deinocheirus, which was also an official stuffed animal. Deinocheirus sold out quickly. The back scratcher, which looked flashy and hard to discern with the naked eye, turned out to be surprisingly detailed when I took a picture, adjusted the brightness, and magnified it. If the number of phalanges was accurate and the crucial semilunar carpal bone was represented, I would have nominated it as the best item this time.

The main attraction this summer was, without a doubt, the Deinocheirus. I had largely introduced the figures last time, but I managed to get my hands on the discontinued Collecta Deinocheirus in its pre-update form, which I briefly mentioned. The price was more than double the original, but as a collector, I wanted to keep a Deinocheirus figure of a style I might never see again. Here's a two-shot of it with the updated version of the same scale (1/40) that I bought to display alongside it. (Image 5)


Although it's an old style, it was released recently in 2012 and already has full plumage, with small wings on its arms in a modern style, and accurately represents the speculated appearance of Deinocheirus at the time—a gigantic ornithomimosaur with primitive features, referencing creatures like Gallimimus. The metatarsals are short, and the first toe, which is lost in evolved ornithomimosaurs, is also reproduced, making it quite an impressive work. However, by late 2014, it tragically became a short-lived figure that was completely debunked. Collecta must have been very disappointed, as they painted the faces of the new Deinocheirus in their regular series released in 2016 and the deluxe 1/40 series the following year in the same colors as the old version.

*As I looked at the Deinocheirus figures, I suddenly noticed that all of them had the same hand posture. It seems to have inherited the pose from when it was only hands. It would be nice to have a bit more variety, but perhaps it can't escape the curse of the "terrible hand" image.

About 10 books related to "Dinosaur Expo 2019" were published this summer. Let me introduce them. (Image 6)


●"San the Dinosaur - Now I'm Here" (Mari Kasai, Alice-kan): A picture book telling the story of San the dinosaur being washed out to sea, becoming a fossil, and being named Mukawaryu.
●"Manga: The Mukawaryu Excavation Record" (Planned and authored by Ken Tsuchiya, Seibundo Shinkosha): You can enjoy manga-style faces of the actual people involved.
●"Dinosaur Mania" (Kaiji Kobayashi, Shinchosha): Various excavation episodes experienced by the author. It also details Mukawaryu and Deinocheirus.
●"Dinosaur Super World" (Nikkei National Geographic): A book richly illustrated with CG from NHK Special, mainly about Deinocheirus and Mosasaurus. For some reason, Mukawaryu is only given a few pages at the end with a photo of its skeleton laid out on the floor and an article, a rather light treatment. Deinonychus is nowhere to be found.
●"How to Exhibit Dinosaurs" (Makoto Manabe, CCC Media House): As mentioned before, a must-read.
●"GET AWAY TRIKE! in Press vol.3": Not a Western book. It's a doujinshi written by a person named Laelaps, which I obtained at an event called "Paleontology Creative Joint Exhibition" that I'll report on later. Laelaps is a well-known figure in that field, active online, and draws the skeletal diagrams used in "Dinosaur Expo 2019" (for example, the Kamuisaurus skeletal diagram on the last page of the catalog). This book details the process of reaching the final version of the Kamuisaurus skeletal diagram and is very interesting. Laelaps also writes extensively about Kamuisaurus on their blog. Please check it out here.
●"Found Something Strange! (4)" (Tomoe Sawara, Shogakukan): The fourth installment in a series depicting the backstage of museums. Dinosaurs do not appear in the content, but the cover and frontispiece are boldly collaborative with Dinosaur Expo 2019. It was also sold at the venue.
●"Children's Science August Issue" (Seibundo Shinkosha): A special feature on Japanese dinosaurs. Mukawaryu is also introduced in detail, and a paper craft of its skeleton is included as an appendix, but it seems difficult to make neatly without perforations.
●"Elementary School 8th Grader August/September Issue" (Shogakukan): Elementary School 8th Grader is a bimonthly magazine for all grades, succeeding the long-loved grade-specific "Elementary School Oth Grader." It contains articles about Mukawaryu and Deinocheirus titled "Japanese Dinosaur Studies Surpass the World! The Forefront of Research and Investigation as Told by Professor Kaiji Kobayashi."
●"Nikkei Science September Issue" (Nikkei Science Inc.): The actual release date was late June. Within the dinosaur feature, there is an introductory article about Dinosaur Expo 2019 titled "New Dinosaur Image as Told by Real Fossils."

This summer was a pretty good harvest for dinosaur books, with about 40 titles, fewer than last year when there were many books related to "JW Fallen Kingdom," but many were rich in content, resulting in yet another pile of books.

Well, my dinosaur summer, which began with the recording of "Shuichi," somehow managed to get through this year. From the dinosaur events I attended in August.

At the beginning of August, drawn by the phrase "The Last World Tour," I ended up going to the "Walking With Dinosaurs Live Experience" at Yokohama Arena. I remember being moved when I first saw its Japan debut in 2010, but I forgot my disappointment from the 2013 performance where nothing had changed, and went for the third time. The show hadn't been revamped, and the dinosaurs looked a bit worn out and seemed fewer in number. In the ever-evolving world of dinosaurs, things from 10 years ago feel terribly old-fashioned. And the anticipated merchandise... only spinning illuminated toys found at festivals (I bought the cheapest one, shaped like a Tyrannosaurus tooth, but it was still 2000 yen, and serrations were out of the question) and boring T-shirts. Paying 6000 yen for admission resulted in a terrible outcome.

"Yokosuka Dinosaur Park 2019" was produced by the famous landscape architect Ryuichi Kanai, which raised a lot of questions for me, and it turned out exactly as I expected. (Image 7)


Where exactly did they represent the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods with plants?! The dinosaur robots were small, moved poorly, and the background was flimsy, giving it the atmosphere of an outdoor version of a department store's moving dinosaur exhibition from the Showa era. However, among them, the Tyrannosaurus in the center of the photo was the largest (about half scale) and quite well-made. It blinked, but its eyes were closed for long periods, during which it had a remarkably calm expression, like an old man sighing deeply or observing the world with philosophical detachment, and I felt momentarily healed. The Pteranodon was nothing short of a joke, and the Spinosaurus confrontation was also somewhat nostalgic... The only merchandise I bought for 1500 yen was a postcard. I also got caught in a squall at the venue, which made for another terrible day, but the military port cruise I took afterward saved the day.

And the summer concluded with the "Paleontology Creative Joint Exhibition" I mentioned earlier. This event, now in its third year, was held this time at the reptile cafe "Yokohama Subtropical Teahouse" in Isezakicho, Yokohama. Hosted by paleontological illustrator Seiji Yamamoto, this event brings together 10 passionate "dinosaur people" who are active online and in doujinshi, to exchange ideas and sell their illustrations, figures, books, and more. Several members of the Dinosaur Club also participate.
I went to the venue, "Yokohama Subtropical Teahouse," for the first time. It's a reptile version of a cat cafe, with green iguanas over a meter long roaming freely (though they barely move). The air conditioning inside is set low to accommodate the residents, and with over 10 people there, the heat was extraordinary. It was more like a rainforest than a subtropical zone. There's also food for tortoises and the like, so naturally, cockroaches also live there, and occasionally a giant one scurries across the floor, but the "dinosaur people" paid no attention to such things, continuing to passionately discuss dinosaurs in the heat. In a way, it was an exquisite space. I'm glad I got to close out the summer this way.


(Image 8) shows some of the spoils. "Dinosaur Age of Hell" is a book that explains dinosaurs found in the Hell Creek Formation in detail, and I like the title, which plays on "Hell Creek," and the "Apocalypse Now"-style cover, which implies "only those who understand will get it." Written by Anu-san. The super cute Velociraptor, about 3 cm tall, below it is a work by Asaina-san, a fellow member of the Dinosaur Club and known as an armored dinosaur enthusiast.

Finally, two dinosaur movies I watched this summer:
"Iron Sky: The Coming Race"
Dinosaurs live in Agartha, the subterranean world ruled by Hitler. Hitler appears riding a Tyrannosaurus... what kind of movie is that?!
It's hard to explain, so please search for it online. It was a silly but entertaining movie.
The other one, surprisingly, is the big hit "Weathering With You." In a scene where the main character's younger brother is packing to move, a book with a Tyrannosaurus-like skeleton on the cover is briefly visible in a cardboard box. Hardly anyone would notice such a thing. The person who discovered it and told me was Hiroaki Takai, an origami artist and member of the Dinosaur Club, who has helped me with the Treasure House before. He's a "master" well-versed in many fields, not just origami. As expected of him.

"Kamuysaurus japonicus"
I think it's a good name with impact. Until now, the genus names of new species from Japan have all been geographical, like Fukui- and Tanba-. I always thought they were a bit too straightforward and lacked some charm. I also wished that some part of Futabasaurus's scientific name included "Peasuke." It's great that Japanese dinosaurs have been given such a flamboyant and playful (or would I be scolded for saying that?) scientific name.