As those of you who were in Vancouver for the 2007 [tag]CAT Tournament[/tag] no doubt remember, the trophies for the winners, and the consolation prizes for the losers, featured [tag]Doraemon[/tag], the cartoon “robot cat of the future”:
We figured that there was no better cause in which to enlist a cartoon character who comes from the 22nd century and has a four-dimensional pocket in his tummy, and that this would be a high point in the history of Doraemon.
Well, we were wrong.
It turns out that the Japanese government have raised Doraemon to even greater heights. They have appointed Doraemon as an “animation ambassador”. In an official ceremony, the Japanese foreign minister declared:
Doraemon, I hope you will travel around the world as an [tag]anime[/tag] ambassador and deepen people’s understanding of Japan so they will become our friends.
With that I think we have to abandon our plans to use Hello Kitty for this year’s prizes. If Doraemon is good enough for the Japanese government, he is good enough for CAT.