It costs $3 million and is dubbed ARCHAX after the avian dinosaur archaeopteryx, the robot has cockpit monitors that receive images from cameras hooked up to the exterior so that the pilot can maneuver the arms and hands with joysticks from inside its torso.

The 3.5-ton robot, which will be unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show later this month, has two modes: the upright 'robot mode' and a 'vehicle mode' in which it can travel up to 10 km (6 miles) per hour. It probably would be slower if it has to stop on tiny soldiers. 

Tsubame Industries CEO Ryo Yoshida said that Japan was very good at animation, games, robots and automobiles so he  thought it would be great if he could create a product that compressed all these elements into one.

"I wanted to create something that says, 'This is Japan.'"

Yoshida plans to build and sell five of the machines for the well-heeled robot fan, but hopes the robot could one day be used for disaster relief or in the space industry.