VIZ Media Announces Two New Doraemon Licensees

Doraemon continues to gobble up food licensees.  Just a few weeks after the anime character’s association with House Foods Tofu, VIZ Media now announces that Doraemon has added snack makers JFC International and Beard Papa’s to its huge host of licensees.

JFC International, a leading global distributor of Asian specialty foods, is featuring officially branded Doraemon dorayaki that feature an imprinted character design and 1 of 20 collectible stickers.  Dorayaki are Japanese snack pancakes that are filled with sweet red bean paste.

Beard Papa’s, an international chain of cream puff stores that was founded in Japan, has created a Doraemon Collaboration Cream Puff to showcase at NYC Japan Week 2015 at Grand Central Station. The cream puff, inspired by Doraemon’s favorite food Dorayaki, mixes Beard Papa’s custard cream with red bean and chestnuts. Select Beard Papa’s Café store locations, including the Upper Westside (NY) store in Manhattan (2167 Broadway, New York, NY 10024), will also carry this flavor after Japan Week concludes, Feb. 21st through April 17th. For a limited time, if you purchase six or more Beard Papa’s cream puffs, they will come packaged in a special Doraemon collaboration take-out box.   Check the official Beard Papa’s Facebook page for locations and starting dates www.beardpapa.com.

“Doraemon is a unique and colorful global ambassador for Japanese pop culture and we are excited to welcome aboard JFC International and Beard Papa’s as licensed partners for the brand and to have the character prominently featured in a variety of delicious new snacks and confections from these companies,” says Daisuke Aoki, VIZ Media Vice President, Licensing.

In Doraemon, the 22nd century blue feline robot travels back in time to have comical adventures with a boy named Noby, and the two characters, making use of Doraemon’s gadget-stuffed Four-Dimensional Pocket, learn lessons about honesty, cooperation, courage, and respect.

Doraemon was created by Fujiko F. Fujio in 1970, and 2015 marks its 45th anniversary.  When the anime series arrived, the manga character’s popularity exploded into a product franchise and smash hit in Japan and Asia.   Over 140 million Doraemon manga have been published, and the Doraemon films outperform any other Japanese franchise, even Godzilla, with sales of 100 million tickets in 2014 alone.  House Foods Corporation is one of over 600 active licensees.