Awards, accolades and public recognition

Doraemon has received numerous accolades. It won the Japan Cartoonists Association Award twice in
1973 and 1994, the former for Excellence Award while the latter for Minister of Education, Science and
Technology Award.[206][207] In 1982, it received the first Shogakukan Manga Award for children's
manga.[208] In 1997, the manga won the Grand Prize at the first Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.[209] The
1979 series won the award from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs four times for best television
series in 1984, 1985, 1988 and 1989.[210]

In 2005, the Taiwan Society of New York selected Doraemon as a culturally significant work of Japanese
otaku pop-culture in its exhibit Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture, curated by
renowned artist Takashi Murakami.[211] A 2006 poll among 80,000 Japanese fans for the 10th
anniversary of the Japan Media Arts Festival placed Doraemon at fifth among the top ten best manga of
all time.[212] The 2005 and 2006 surveys conducted by TV Asahi found the Doraemon anime ranked
fifth and third, respectively, among the 100 most favorite anime series of all time.[213][214] In 2010, a
survey conducted by researchers of Tokyo Polytechnic University found that most responders
considered Doraemon, along with Dragon Ball franchise, to be the anime series that represents Cool
Japan.[215] In a 2013 survey, Doraemon was found to be the best anime recommended for foreign
people.[216]

Controversies

Doraemon has been blamed for having a negative impact on children, due to the controversial traits of
the characters in the anime. The character has received criticism in China, where some media outlets
considered Doraemon to be a politically subversive character and that it was a tool of Japan's "cultural
invasion".[217][218][219] In 2016, a resolution to ban Hindi-dubbed Doraemon anime series was
submitted in Pakistan.[220] Around the same time, legal notices were served against several companies
in India, targeting Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan for bans (which did not materialize), as having an
adverse effect on children.[220][221] Disney Channel India, the regional broadcaster of the anime, was
banned in Bangladesh and Pakistan citing non-availability of localized dubs for content including
Doraemon.[222][223]

Cultural impact and legacy

A shuttle bus featuring Doraemon

Shuttle bus featuring Doraemon to Fujiko F. Fujio Museum in Kawasaki

Doraemon at National Museum of Singapore

Doraemon at National Museum of Singapore in October 2020

The Doraemon manga has inspired many other mangakas; these include Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One
Piece with the idea of "Devil Fruits",[224][225] and Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, who
showed interest in drawing characters from anime shows during his childhood, including Doraemon.
[226] The manga has also been mentioned in Gin Tama and Great Teacher Onizuka.[227][228] The
character Doraemon is considered one of the cultural icons in Japan,[7][229] and one of the most well-
known character in manga history;[175] some critics compared his notability with Mickey Mouse and
Snoopy.[230][231] Mark Schilling noted that Doraemon's "Take-Copter" is familiar among Japanese
people "just as Snoopy's biplane is familiar to most Americans".[232]

On April 22, 2002, on the special issue of Asian Hero in Time magazine, Doraemon was the only anime
character to be named one of the twenty-two Asian Heroes, and was described as "The Cuddliest Hero
in Asia".[233] A 2007 poll by Oricon shown that Doraemon was the second-strongest manga character
ever, behind only Son Goku of Dragon Ball.[234] Doraemon is also referred as something with the ability
to satisfy all wishes.[201]

In 2008, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed Doraemon as the first anime cultural
ambassador;[235] a Ministry spokesperson explained the decision as an attempt to help people in other
countries understand Japanese anime better and to deepen their interest in Japanese culture.[236] On
September 3, 2012, Doraemon was granted official residence in the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa, one
hundred years before he was born.[237] In the same year, Hong Kong celebrated the birthday of
Doraemon 100 years early with a series of displays of the character.[238] In April 2013, Doraemon was
chosen as Japan's ambassador in Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer
Paralympics.[239] He appeared in the 2016 Summer Olympics closing ceremony to promote the 2020
Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[240][241]

A Fujiko F. Fujio museum opened in Kawasaki on September 3, 2011, featuring Doraemon as the star of
the museum.[242][243] The National Museum of Singapore held a time-travelling exhibition in October
2020 as a tribute to the manga.[244] After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Shogakukan
released an earthquake survival guidebook, which included the main cast of the Doraemon manga
series.[245] TV Asahi launched the Doraemon Fund charity fund to raise money for natural disasters in
2004,[246] and in 2011.[247] In 2020, Mumbai's Sion Friends Circle group distributed food and books to
kids using mascots, one being Doraemon, to help during the COVID-19 pandemic.[248] In Vietnam, a
Doraemon scholarship fund was established in 1996,[249] and the Doraemon character has been used
for education of traffic safety.[250] Doraemon's creator, Fujiko F. Fujio, received the Culture Fighter
Medal from the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture in 1996 for his contributions to young education
through the manga.[251]

Many prominent figures have been nicknamed after the cast of Doraemon: politician Osamu Fujimura is
known as the "Doraemon of Nagatacho" due to his figure and warm personality,[252] and sumo wrestler
Takamisugi was nicknamed "Doraemon" because of his resemblance to the character.[253] In 2015, a
group of people in a drought-affected village in northern Thailand used a Doraemon toy to complete a
rain-ritual, in order to avoid controversies that would occur by using real animals.[254]