{"id":2081,"date":"2013-06-26T05:19:50","date_gmt":"2013-06-26T05:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=2081"},"modified":"2025-08-07T11:57:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T18:57:50","slug":"199","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/199\/","title":{"rendered":"One Sweet Ride: the Yamato<\/em> Bicycle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A truly special and unique artifact of Yamato<\/em> merchandising was released while Series 2 was on the air: the DoReMi Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> bicycle made by Bridgestone! The push of a button on the right handgrip was all it took to blow away neighborhood bullies with its Wave-Motion headlight.<\/p>\n

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\nDuring the tenure of Yamato 2<\/em> on Japanese TV, a truly special and unique artifact of Yamato<\/em> merchandising was released: the DoReMi Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> bicycle made by Bridgestone! Tricked out with authentic decor from front to back, the power it conveyed came with truly awesome responsibility: the push of a button on the right handgrip was all it took to blow away neighborhood bullies with its Wave-Motion headlight.<\/p>\n

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\n\tThough there may have been more, current photo evidence reveals only a green and blue version of the bike. Decoration was identical. The Yen price was 23900, somewhere between $150 and $200 in 1978 dollars. A bargain at twice the price.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\tOnly someone with a heart of stone could not be charmed by the headlamp. It’s easy to imagine trembling young hands carefully cutting out the bow notches with dad’s pocket knife. Bottom row: a promotional sticker from Bridgestone that couldn’t actually fit anywhere on the bike itself.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\tIt’s difficult to decide which was cooler: the control panel or the Cosmo Tiger on the seat. But it’s easy to tell which one wore off faster.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\tStills from the Bridgestone TV commercial, broadcast during Yamato 2<\/em> episodes. Starring the three luckiest boys in the world. Watch it on Youtube here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below: a vintage flyer ad.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\tOf course, the bike has been out of production for decades now, but it still turns up when you least expect it. Here’s one on display at a “Showa Era” theme-mall in Odaiba, Tokyo in 2009.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\tAbove is a green model that turned up in an online auction on November 2010, and below is a black one that appeared April 2012. Both looked as miraculously unused as the day they were bought.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe truly obsessed Yamato<\/em> fan had a few custom options: a pair of Be Forever Yamato<\/em> spinner flags released by Amada and distributed by Popy in 1980 (left) and a trio of vinyl mudflaps–bootlegged by unknown parties.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\tThese pencil drawings were for body art that would have decorated a girl’s version of the bike.
To date, no further evidence of a girl’s version has been found.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\tBridgestone released one other product during the same timeframe, a pair of foldout binoculars called the “Yamato<\/em> Scope.” Undoubtedly useful for spotting other Yamato<\/em> bicycles!\n<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/h3>\n


\nChain guard<\/p>\n


\n1978 magazine ad<\/p>\n


\n1979 promotional poster<\/p>\n


\nKindergarten<\/em> magazine, April 1979 issue<\/p>\n


\nKindergarten<\/em> magazine, June 1979 issue<\/p>\n

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Additional bike photos found in 2021…<\/p>\n

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