Cartoon kitty a Japanese envoy

2008-03-19 16:16

Isabel Reynolds

Tokyo - A rotund, blue cartoon cat took office as an "anime ambassador" to promote Japanese culture around the world in a ceremony at the foreign ministry on Wednesday.

Doraemon, the hero of one of Japan's most popular anime cartoon series, is a robotic cat with magic powers, who comes back from the future to help a hapless young primary school boy, Nobita.

"Doraemon, I hope you will travel around the world as an anime ambassador to show people what kind of place Japan is," the ministry quoted Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura as saying at an inauguration ceremony attended by people dressed as the series' main characters.

Invented by Fujiko F Fujio, Doraemon made his first appearance in childrens magazines in the 1960s and has won a broad fan base not only in Japan, but among children across Asia.

The cat attempts to solve all Nobita's woes with a series of outlandish gadgets he produces from a "four-dimensional pocket".

"Through my work I hope I can show people abroad how ordinary Japanese people think, how they live and what kind of future they want to build," the Doraemon character told Komura.

Rising international interest in Japan's anime culture has inspired Tokyo to try to use the trend to boost it's profile.

Last year, the foreign ministry launched an award for foreign manga, which was won by a Hong Kong artist.

- Reuters