Japan appoints Doraemon as "anime ambassador"

[Jet_Jaguar]

I'm a little bit surprised that they didn't pick a Tezuka character for the "anime ambassador" (maybe it's because Astro Boy was already appointed as an ambassador for "overseas safety"):

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23716592

Because I've read Fred Schodt's Dreamland Japan, I know that Fujiko F. Fujio was actually two people working as a team (one of them passed away about twelve years ago):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujiko_F._Fujio

While Doraemon isn't well-known in the United States, the character is popular in Europe and parts of Asia and Latin America. I remember when I was taking Spanish in college, the textbook had a picture of a tv schedule from Mexico (or maybe another country) that had "Doraemon: El Gato Del Espacio" (or something like that) listed as part of the cartoon lineup on one channel.

This is theme music from the Italian version of Doraeomon. It's pretty catchy:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zW6OywKZFWE

[oxthowe]

Well, Doraemon was never a fighter like Astro Boy or Pikachu, which is probably why they chose him as ambassador
We shows the peacful side of Japan.