QT" T-Shirts Linked to Smartphones for Video and Web Viewing The first "Crab Ships T-Shirt" is available for pre-order from August 20 (Tue.)!

Cyberdyne, Inc., which sells board games that respect genre films such as "Sharkopoly," will begin accepting reservations for its first "QT" (Qty) "Crab Ship T-Shirt" on Tuesday, August 20, 2024.

The "Crab Boat T-Shirt" reservation page

http://www.qtx.tokyo/jiken/kanikousen

The "Crab Boat QT" is a new type of apparel linked to the movie and the web.

About "The Crab Boat T-Shirt

The "QT" is a system that allows users to read the QR code printed on the front of the T-shirt with their smartphones to view and play web and video content, allowing them to delve deeper into the themes designed on the T-shirt.

The design of the "Crab Ship T-Shirt" features crab cans and crab ships manufactured in the harsh fishing industry from the late Taisho to the early Showa period. The QR printed on the T-shirt allows users to view four different contents: the history of crab boats, the life of Takiji Kobayashi, the novel "The Crab Boat," and the movie "The Crab Boat.

Kobayashi Takiji's novel "The Crab Boat" is a masterpiece of proletarian literature that depicts impoverished crew members who are lured by high rewards to engage in harsh fishery labor, and supervisors who use violence to control and exploit them.

In the 1910s, factory ships equipped with canning equipment invented in Japan, the first of its kind in the world, made canned crab, a luxury item that was enjoyed by wealthy Westerners and became an important export item for Japan, which was suffering from a shortage of foreign currency.

However, despite the many deaths and injuries caused by the poor working conditions at the site, the government of the time prioritized foreign currency acquisition, and support and relief for the workers was put on the back burner.

In 1900, the Hakuai Maru was commissioned as a hospital ship for the Japanese Red Cross Society, but in 1926, it was paid off and converted into a crab ship, causing many deaths and injuries and inspiring the writing of the novel "Kanikousen" (The Crab Ship).

Later, in June 1945, at the end of the Pacific War, the ship was sunk by a thunderbolt from a U.S. submarine.

Next year, 2025, will mark the 80th anniversary of the sinking, and the year after next, 2026, will mark the 100th anniversary of the remodeling of the crab ship.

The JIKEN label will dig deeper into events that are often overlooked in name only and superficial recognition, and develop products that are ironic while getting to the essence of the content.

The "QT" system, an in-depth knowledgeware system, was adopted for the "Crab Boat" project, which allows users to read the design (QR code) on the T-shirts with their smartphones or tablets to watch novels, movies, commentary on the Hakuai Maru, and the life of Takiji Kobayashi. We will provide proletarians with stylish attire to walk around wearing social issues as fashion.

Let's learn about the Showa era incidents together!

*The first attempt QT in Japan will be rights management by Transmedia Corporation, an intellectual property management company (utility model registration under review).

Crab ship QT/B model

Crab ship QT/C model

Reservation page for Crab Boat T-shirts: http://www.qtx.tokyo/jiken/kanikousen

■QT official website (click here to download materials) http://www.cyberdyne.co.jp/qt

What is "The Crab Carrier"?

The novel "The Crab Boat" (1929), which depicts the suffering of the lowest class of workers who were forced to produce high-grade canned goods that were exported to the wealthy in Europe and the U.S. and contributed greatly to the acquisition of foreign currency, became a major topic of conversation, and was even made into a movie in 1953 after the war.

However, the author, Kobayashi Takiji, was targeted by the Special Higher Police as a member of the Communist Party and was illegally arrested in 1933 and died in prison.

QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.

Company profile of Cyberdyne, Inc.

Company Name ： Cyberdyne, Inc.

Representative ： Nobuyuki Takahashi

Location ： 3F Bureau Waseda, 74 Waseda-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0042, Japan

Establishment ： May 1, 2007

Business : Planning and production of books, hobbies, and events

Capital ： 10 million yen

URL ： http://www.cyberdyne.co.jp/