Japanese Grieving For Late Author Of Russia's Cheburashka Character

Japanese Grieving for Late Author of Russia's Cheburashka Character

News about the death of Russian writer Eduard Uspensky, most famous for his children's books, has deeply affected the hearts of the Japanese people, who share a particular affection for one of the characters he created, Cheburashka, also known as Topple in earlier English translations.

TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2018) News about the death of Russian writer Eduard Uspensky, most famous for his children's books, has deeply affected the hearts of the Japanese people, who share a particular affection for one of the characters he created, Cheburashka, also known as Topple in earlier English translations.

Among the dozens of children's novels written by the author, his tales of Cheburashka, a small, fluffy animal that was "unknown to science," as Uspensky described him, and his friend Gena the Crocodile, who became protagonists of popular Soviet stop-motion animated films, amassed many fans in Russia and, surprisingly, in Japan, where people have a love for adorable animated characters.

Uspensky died on Tuesday in Moscow at the age of 80. The following day, headlines saying "Cheburashka's Creator Dead" dominated throughout Japanese media.

CHARACTERS GOING BEYOND BORDERS, RACES, RELIGIONS

The Japanese expressed their grief over the death of Uspensky in numerous blog and social media posts.

"Uspensky died. He was equally successful in Japan and Russia. There have been goods with Cheburashka [in Japan], a new [Japanese] animated series, but I still like the original simple series. I am praying for the repose of his soul," one of the first Japanese blog posts dedicated to Uspensky said.

Tweets saying "Cheburashka, I loved it so much! I have just returned from Russia, where I bought a matryoshka doll depicting Cheburashka ... What a pity," "So impossibly sweet and a bit sad character!" and "I love the tardy plot and Gena's song. Let [Uspensky's] soul repose. I love Cheburashka!" came in one by one on the social media platform.

Another admirer of Uspensky expressed his hope that more characters bridging cultural differences would appear.

"I wish [all] characters were that like � going beyond borders, races and religions. I am grieving," he wrote.

In 2010, a remake of the Soviet "Cheburashka" short films created by Russian, Japanese and South Korean animators was released in Japan. The success of the remake and later released animated feature film popularized goods depicting the cartoon character.

In Japan, the world of animated films is filled with constant shifts in popularity, so the fact that Cheburashka has been so popular for so many years is a rare exception.

Cheburaska became a phenomenon in the country despite there already being a generation of Japanese children who had never seen the Soviet cartoon. The well-known creature with sad eyes still continues to appear on schoolbags, key chains, folders and notebooks.

Asked about the reasons for Cheburashka's popularity in Japan in a 2016 interview with the Japanese Jiji news agency, Uspensky said that since the book about him had never been "a Soviet one" due to its absence of any ideological undertones, it could appeal more to children, who were same everywhere in the world.