or Doraemon Takes Over Roppongi Hills
Doraemon is an icon of Japanese culture, I have seen him on posters advertising various things (I can’t read yet what exactly) and on different products yet I was unsure what he actually is. This is fairly common for me as there are quite a few mascots in Japan representing various locations, utilities, not to litter etc. None seem to be recognizable as anything in particular.
I was talking about this with some work colleagues at Friday night drinks and found they were massive Doraemon fans having watched him and his adventures on television since the 1980s.
They tag-teamed to fill me in on the Doraemon story.
Doraemon is a blue robot cat sent from the future (22nd century to be exact) to help change the fortunes of a young boy who is actually the great-great-grandfather of the boy who sent him.
The robot was a reject by the factory where it was made and was all the boy could afford. Doraemon has no ears or tail as a rat ate them so he’s been scared of rats ever since. Why a rat would want to eat metal is not something we discussed. Doraemon has a yellow sister which led me to ask “what colour were their parents?”. My colleagues laughed and I was told not to be so silly, they are robots! I’m still confused.
The part I really liked is Doraemon can pull futuristic gadgets from a pocket. This generally leads to a bit of trouble and is the basis for quite a few of the stories. I’d like that pocket!
Doraemon’s reach is far and wide now appearing in cartoons in over 30 countries from India to the UK. There’s even been a musical!
Pretty impressive for a manga series which began in 1969 and had over 1,000 stories illustrated.
Sometimes in Japan, there is a blurring of reality and imagination. Doraemon is one of those cases where the line is a little fuzzy. In real life, he was appointed as Japan’s first “anime ambassador” in 2008 which is clearly a role that everyone takes seriously as there’s also a charity set up in his name to help raise money for natural disasters. Pretty impressive for a factory-reject blue robot cat, with no ears or tail, from the future!
As part of TV Asahi and Roppongi Hills Summer Station Festival there are Doraemon spread throughout Roppongi Hills. Parents appeared to be reminiscing while their children darted inbetween the blue cats trying to decide their favourite. Their parents would have come close to filling their available memory on the phones judging by how many photos were being taken. Parents even took turns in being in the photos themselves.
I guess it’s not everyday you have the opportunity to have your photo taken with Japan’s first “anime ambassador”.
* Thanks to Alan Silvestri for the title to this post. He’s wrote and composed for movies as diverse as The Predator, The Avengers, Cosmos and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.
