Eclectic inventor Kazuhiko Hachiya

Early September, 1999. Artist and creator Kazuhiko Hachiya is unveiling his latest creation to an exhibition hall full of gobsmacked Japanese journalists. It is the Airboard: a skateboard crossed with a hovercraft, inspired by the device used by Michael J. Fox in the movie Back to the Future 2.

A strange concept, perhaps, but everyone is sitting up and listening, for it was the creativity of Hachiya that led to the phenomenon that is the PostPets email software.

Backtracking to university days, he started getting glimpses of the future while studying programming at the Kyushu Institute of Design, not far from his hometown of Saga. "As part of my course," he says, "there was something called "Making Tools for Communication." It gave me the idea to create a "multiple work" - I mean, something simple, but truly versatile. Then I came up with the idea of an electronic carrier pigeon. It carries messages, but it can also find its way home, which in this case is your computer. I worked on the idea and then I took it to SO-NET, and with their support, everything was realized. Takashi Koki and I worked on the technical aspects after it was licensed to Sony, and Namie Manabe came up with the graphics and designs for Momo, Shingo and the others."

Not a big shoe, but an Airboard Toshiaki Makihara

Before the PostPets project, Hachiya was chiefly known for a number of bizarre "art installations" in various locations around Japan. The exhibits all ventured into the realm of virtual reality, employing a number of subtle mind games to subvert the viewer's expectations. The Airboard comes from this side of his life, being a strikingly unusual artifact; it goes against the Japanese preferences for things small and cute, but it does have an undeniable retro-futuristic appeal. The sleek carbon/aluminum body is powered by a Swedish TN100 model airplane grade engine, providing 11 kilos of thrust, enough to propel one rider, possibly two.

So, does the 34-year-old Hachiya consider himself an artist, rather than a scientist? "Absolutely. I have a total lack of the elements that make up a scientist or an engineer. All my work is created as art, and I describe my approach to it as a calmness that contains a spirit of recklessness. Of course, I don't deny that the creative process is influenced by my career, by my experience of engineering, planning, or marketing, limited though it is. All those abilities are united inside me, though. I'm not saying I have multiple personality syndrome."

The slogan for the Airboard is AIR OR DIE: Jet Generation, which was inspired by the song "Jet Generation" by Guitar Wolf. Does he follow the Japanese musical underground? "Yes, but basically, techno appeals to me. I like Yoshinara Sunahara, Yan Tomita, Chie Ayado, Hi-Posi... musicians like that.

Hachiya is also known as an original artist Imai Toons

"I admire so many people who are pushing at the boundaries of society - artists, musicians and architects - whether they are famous or not. One person I really respect is Shigeru Miyamoto from Nintendo [creator of Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda]. I met him recently, and I'd really like to be like him, in a way."

How about the future? "Well, at the moment, the Airboard is an original piece; there are no plans to produce it commercially. What I'm concentrating on is new software connected to PostPets, but without using PC hardware, trying to make the software more efficient and, in a way, independent."

Will Momo and his friends be involved?

"You'll have to ask them!"