Doraemon' Museum dibuka tahun depan

Kyodo News

A museum dedicated to the creator of "Doraemon" and other popular cartoon series will feature around 50,000 original drawings, the desk and other items the late cartoonist used as well as his characters, planners announced this week.

Gadget cat from the future: Masako Fujimoto, the widow of "Doraemon" creator Fujiko F. Fujio, attends a news conference in Tokyo on Monday to announce plans for a Kawasaki museum dedicated to her husband. KYODO PHOTO

The Fujiko F. Fujio Museum is scheduled to open Sept. 3, 2011, in Kawasaki, the city where he spent more than three decades until his death in 1996. The three-story structure will have around 5,500 sq. meters of floor space, according to the blueprints.

At a news conference Monday, Masako Fujimoto, the widow of the cartoonist whose real name was Hiroshi Fujimoto, said: "Original drawings by their very nature represent the time he lived. I did not want to have them, not even one, left in separate places. I'd be happy if children from all over the world come and visit."

Construction of the museum is scheduled to start in April in the city's Tama district and is expected to cost ¥1.8 billion to ¥2 billion. The drawings and the author's items will be placed in the author's room section, while the rooftop space will feature Doraemon and other characters.

A native of Toyama Prefecture, Fujiko moved to Kawasaki in 1961 from Toshima Ward, Tokyo, and died there in 1996 at the age of 62.