Great Moments in Diplomacy

According to Heidi MacDonald at The Beat, Japan has a new employee on the public payroll. Doraemon, a blue robot cat from the future, has been named Japan's anime ambassador. (He's not the first anime character to become an ambassador, though. As he has in other areas, Astro Boy got there first, being named ambassador for overseas safety at the end of last year.) Here we see Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura making the whole thing official with Doraemon and his friend Nobita.

The Times suggests that Doraemon will be more than a goodwill ambassador for Japanese culture and anime--he may also send an anti-piracy message against those, particularly in China, who are stealing Japanese anime and other films.

When I was an exchange student to Japan more than twenty-five years ago, Doraemon was everywhere, and from what I understand, he's only gotten bigger ever since. The character first appeared in manga and then moved over to anime. Interestingly, because the cartoons have never been translated into English, he's almost unknown in the United States. That may be changing, however, as the first Doraemon movie to be shown in the United States will be coming later this year, with Spongebob's Tom Kenny voicing the title character.