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Published on January 12, 2008

Jumpei Mitsui, a materials chemistry student at Tokyo University, likens the humble Lego brick to an atom, explaining how each piece can be connected until it form a whole.

The 20-year-old Mitsui, who was recently crowned TV's "Lego King Champion" for the second time, has competed in Japan and Denmark. He's currently in Bangkok to showcase his models of the Emerald Temple and the Eiffel Tower at the Emporium shopping complex where he's also hosting workshops to keep the kids amused on Children's Day.

Mitsui reveals that he fell in love with Lego at the tender age of three, when his parents bought him a set of the starter blocks as a present. He played with his elder brother, but unlike other kids, he didn't lose interest when he reached junior high school.

"The bricks always surprise me. When I start putting them together, I often don't have a specific object in mind. But every time, it turns out to be something amazingly creative," he says.

Because Lego bricks can be used to build anything, Mitsui soon started thinking on a grand scale. At 14, he was delving into books on architecture and engineering to better understand the infrastructure requirements for his models. At 17, he constructed the popular manga cat Doreamon to actual cat size, using 50,000 Lego bricks. The model weighed in at a hefty 40 kilograms.

For the "Lego and Emporium Kids Wonders" event, Mitsui spent about two months constructing the "Emerald Buddha Temple" using 40,000 pieces of Lego bricks. "I visited Wat Phra Kaew on my first visit to Thailand a year ago. As soon as I returned to Japan, I started collecting information and photos. I thought about its structure and how to build it. Then I made a sketch."

First he constructed the roof, then the windows. The pinnacle of the Viharn was the most complicated, he says.

Mitsui is of the opinion that most children love playing with Lego because it's fun and creative. "The results are visible, making youngsters proud of themselves," he says. "Besides, Lego teaches children concentration and patience. There's no age limit."

At home, he's working on his ongoing project, a model of the Japanese battleship Yamamoto. "It will be my biggest Lego model to date, using 200,000 bricks and measuring seven metres in length. It should be finished in August," he says proudly.

Mitsui also credits Lego with inspiring him to study materials chemistry. "I just want to make better structural materials that will enhance the quality of construction," he grins.

Kupluthai Pungkanon

The Nation