Japan names Pikachu, Hello Kitty ambassadors for Osaka

Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Kono has officially named Pokémon's Pikachu and Hello Kitty to advertise Osaka as the perfect city to host the 2025 World Expo. Taro announced the appointment in a tweet on November 29, accompanied with photos. The World Expo is organized every five years. According to a report published by the Newsweek, the BIE (Bureau International des Expositions), an organization that regulates and monitors World Expos, describes the event as a platform for building solutions and raising awareness to current global challenges. The Japan Times reported on Tuesday that as the foreign minister handed appointment letters to the two characters, he said: “I would like for you to represent Japan and proactively (promote) the attraction of Osaka inside and outside of the country.” The BIE website states that a total of four countries, each with a particular city in mind, are running for the chance to be the host of World Expo 2025. These potential hosts are France, the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan and Japan. The host country will be elected in November, 2018 at the 164th General Assembly, where the BIE’s 170 member states will vote.

I have appointed Pikachu and Hello Kitty as Ambassador to promote the City of Osaka for the 2025 Expo host city. pic.twitter.com/mCkiCl5T5j

— KONO Taro (@konotaromp) November 29, 2017

It could be noted, this is not the first time Hello Kitty has been awarded an honor typically reserved for an actual human. In 2008, Hello Kitty was declared the Japanese Ambassador for Tourism in China and Hong Kong, the New York Daily News reported. In 2004, Hello Kitty was dubbed a “Unicef Special Friend of Children” after she raised $150,000 for female education programs funded by Unicef, the New York Times reported. Pokémon's Pikachu is likewise a massively popular character, which was designed by Nintendo. In 2014, a "Pikachu Illustrator" card sold for $54,970, reported CNBC. In March 2014, more than 21.5 billion Pokémon trading cards had been sold in 74 countries, and more than 260 million Pokémon videogames had been sold worldwide, Polygon reported. Dubai is set to host the next World Expo, which will begin on October 20, 2020 and end in April 10, 2021.