The robot, on show at this week's Ceatec exhibition near Tokyo, consists of two pairs of arms, each of which come out to grip an object.

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In a demonstration, the lower set of arms held a brush, which is traditionally used in Japan for calligraphy. The brush was at table level and sitting just above an ink reservoir. The upper set of arms held the body of a pen, but this was in mid-air.

The robot is wired so that whatever is done with the pen body on the upper set of arms is mimicked by the brush on the lower set of arms.

So when the researcher took hold of the pen body and jabbed it a couple of times it had the effect of dipping the brush in ink. He then swung the pen to the left and performed the motions that would see the lower brush write out a large Chinese character for "tree" on a piece of paper.