Who's having a birthday?

If you ask that question in Tokyo at the moment, the answer is the same; "Atomu! Atomu!" When I first heard the name I thought; "Who the hell..???" Turns out that Atomu is none other than Astroboy that kawaii little munchkin with the body of a puppet, the heart of a child and rockets for feet.

April 7th 2003 is Atomu's birthday according to the futuristic 1960's cartoon. His birthplace? A factory in Takadanobaba, a suburb of Tokyo.

Not a country to miss the opportunity for a festival, April 7 has been deemed "Atomu Day" in Tokyo - for the past couple of weeks, the Takadanobaba (try saying that really fast while you're really drunk) station has been playing the Astroboy theme music to herald the arrival of trains and Monday week there will be a birthday parade in Takadanobaba.

For a country that's in the midst of an economic and political slump, its reassuring to see that our Japanese compatriots thrive under the adage; "any excuse for a party"...