I’m still unpacking some of souvenirs from my trip to Japan, so here is Doraemon the earless robotic cat from the 22nd century ‘presenting’ a Noritake porcelain coffee mug with the Ponyo character on. Ponyo is an animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human. It is a product of Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki and the story was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Little Mermaid’. The movie came out in 2008 and I believe the ‘Ponyo on the Cliff by Blue Mug’ shortly after that. And is that the ever-possible tsunami that is depicted on the cup? It certainly seems like it.
