NSK Micro Precision developed the gyro in cooperation with former yo-yo world champion, Takehiko Hasegawa, who also worked with the company on the wildly popular NSK fidget spinner ('Saturn Spinner') in 2017.

The new gyro has a unique design, with a single bearing located in the middle of the rotor disk instead of at the top and bottom of the spin shaft. This reduces friction, and contributes to longer idle spinning time. In-house tests show that the gyro can spin for more than four minutes on top of its tiny stand, and that the rotor disc can spin for longer than fourteen minutes.

The toy makes use of the gyro effect, which acts to maintain a constant axis of rotation even when external force is applied. Gyroscopes with ball bearings are widely used for navigation purposes in ships and planes. However, this is the first commercial gyroscope toy in Japan made with a ball bearing.

The extraordinary precision and attention to detail makes the gyro stand out from the crowd. The gyro is completely made-in-Japan, with many components sourced directly in Tokyo and area. This includes the outer rings, which are produced on a high-precision lathe in a machine workshop in Shitamachi, the storied artisan district of Tokyo.

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NSK Ltd. published this content on 14 June 2018 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 14 June 2018 02:27:07 UTC