Kiko Run's 'Kiko Festival' Set for Oct. 4 — Tokiwado to Enter 'Unit 4,' a Robot in Its Permanent Care

Kiko Run is a timed obstacle race in which a person pairs with a non-humanoid symbiotic robot, with scores recorded in the form "n pairs, n minutes n seconds (n assists)." Its annual Kiko Festival, held in October, is positioned as the year's largest event, bigger than the regular April meet, with a special course built around the Kyobashi headquarters building. As previously reported, Tokiwado, the Kyobashi business that keeps retired symbiotic robots in perpetual custody, is known for its monthly "Wake-Up Day"; on the 23rd it announced it will again field a team from among its charges for this year's Kiko Festival. Entering is "Unit 4," a non-humanoid robot originally designed for cleaning and transport work, briefly powered on for the training period with the consent of the family that entrusted it to the shop.

Unit 4's human partner this year is Yamato Okita, 24, who joined Tokiwado this year. "At first I felt awkward operating something in our care," Okita said, "but I could tell how genuinely eager Unit 4 was, and that made it impossible for me not to take it seriously." Unit 4 was originally built for warehouse transport work over uneven floors, so clearing obstacles poses little trouble; the current challenge is cutting down the number of "assists." Training runs three times a week in the evening, along the narrow alley behind the building.

As previously reported, non-humanoid design remains the norm for symbiotic robots, and the "anti-anthropomorphism" rule's merits are a constant subject of debate. Unit 4's modifications stay within that rule — only one added sensor, for detecting low obstacles. Tokiwado's 72-year-old shopkeeper said, "I have no intention of making Unit 4 look more human. It stays boxy — I just want to give it more it can do." The Kiko Run governing body maintains the same principle, that robot modification must stay within the anti-anthropomorphism rule, and says Tokiwado's team has never been flagged for a violation.

As previously reported, the robot legislative council has a public hearing scheduled for October, with debate continuing over the legal status of "quasi-personhood." Tokiwado's shopkeeper said quietly, "Unit 4 is in our care because its working life is over, and yet on training days it's waiting by the shutter before anyone else. In our shop, an answer's already been reached somewhere apart from whether that counts as quasi-personhood." Among the regulars who appear in the previously reported column "The Shore Diner," some know Tokiwado's robots; diner owner Takara Senou commented, "I thought I'd only ever see that one on Wake-Up Day. I was surprised to hear it's entering the Kiko Festival."

According to the governing body, entries for the Kiko Festival are pouring in from university clubs nationwide, and the field for Oct. 4 is expected to grow roughly 20% from a typical year. Tokiwado's team has finished mid-pack in each of its last two outings, but Okita said, "With Unit 4's new sensor, we should be able to cut down on assists this year. Our goal is a first-ever finish in the prizes."

Of the ten sports, Kiko Run seems to me the one best suited to the house style of "there's a result every time, even though nobody quite understands it." A robot that was supposed to be retired into someone's care, moving and running only on training days — try to explain the logic of that, and you end up in the same place as the legislative council's debate. So I've decided not to explain it. On Oct. 4, I plan to go see what face Unit 4 runs with, if it has one at all.