Doraemon named anime ambassador

Famed anime character Doraemon has been named Japan's first "anime ambassador," the Foreign Ministry announced. The earless robot cat from the long-running Fujiko F. Fujio series will promote Japanese culture overseas and enhance the power of so-called Cool Japan.

"By appointing Doraemon, we hope people in other countries will understand Japanese anime better and deepen their interest in Japanese culture," a foreign ministry official said.

In the manga and anime series, Doraemon travels back in time from the 22nd century to help a hapless schoolboy named Nobita. Being a robot, Doraemon has thousands of cool gadgets that he pulls out of his fourth-dimensional pocket, like the Anywhere Door and Time Machine. Doraemon merchandising has made the character ubiquitous in Japan, appearing on everything from clothing to candy.

The move comes at a time when Japan's "scientific whaling" program has garnered it a lot of bad press overseas.