Shinjuku’s giant 3-D cat now regularly greets and speaks to crowds every 15 minutes

Commuters in Tokyo most recently had their eyes fixated on the sky when a mysterious Junji Ito-esque floating head hovered over the city, but before that, this summer they were looking up hoping to catch a glimpse of the giant prowling lifelike 3-D cat that appeared looming over Shinjuku Station.

This past July, the super realistic digital cat took up space in the new new 154.7 square meter digital rooftop ad space Cross Shinjuku Vision, which is located atop the Cross Shinjuku just outside Shinjuku Station's East Exit. The cat, which wakes up every morning and greets the thousands walking below with meows and watching eyes, appeared periodically before curling up to go to bed each night.

Since Oct 1, the gigantic feline has been making more regular appearances, however, and likely attracting quite a bit of cat loving tourists. The cat is now appearing once every 15 minutes (intervals of 00, 15, 30, and 45 minute marks within an hour) in four unique episodes of a 2 minute and 15-second special program called "Neko Channel" (Cat Channel) at the Cross Shinjuku Vision ad space, greeting those at the giant crossing it looks over by "talking" to them.

The ad space itself uses a state-of-the-art sound system, 4K image quality and 3-D imagery created using curved LED screens to deliver eye-popping advertisements, as seen by Frieza of "Dragon Ball" fame making a threatening appearance for a Bandai Namco ad.

The cat itself will be making regular appearances to interact with gathering crowds and show off both the capabilities of the digital ad space, as well its own playfulness, in "Zero Gravity" situations.

And naturally, help out with advertisements for Japan's favorite cat food--Ciao.

Or celebrate the 30th anniversary of Japanese pop group ZARD.

Along with Neko Channel on YouTube, a live broadcast of the "giant cat's eye view" from the roof of the Cross Shinjuku Building was also launched.

There are 4K fixed-angle and 180-degree VR versions, and by visiting the site, so you can even take a screenshot of yourself watching the giant cat video from the Shinjuku East Exit Plaza.

While the spectacular 3D giant cat video is obviously supposed to draw eyes to the ad space, Cross Space is hoping the Neko Channel system can make the digital feline a new landmark in Shinjuku, with friends rendezvousing for scheduling airing times below the cat. In addition, Cross Space is opening Cafe Pasteto and Cafe Little Pasteto, a seated cafe and takeout cafe located on the basement and first floors of the building respectively.

Cross Space says that they hope to add more interactive viewing experiences of the cat in the future, so perhaps the kaiju-like kitty may just become the new mascot of Shinjuku.

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-- HARIO CAFE; a new cafe specialising in drip coffee made using HARIO gadgets

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