- published: 16 Nov 2009
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Domo (どーも くん, Dōmo-kun?) is the official mascot of Japan's NHK television station, appearing in several 30-second stop-motion interstitial sketches shown as station identification during shows.
Domo-kun first appeared in short stop-motion sketches in December 1998 to mark the 10th anniversary of NHK's satellite broadcasting. The name "Domo" was acquired during the second episode of his show in which a TV announcer said, "dōmo, konnichiwa" (どうも、こんにちは?), which is a greeting that can be translated as, "Well, hello there!", but which can also be interpreted as "Hello, Domo", and thus is a convenient pun (dajare). The kun suffix on "Domo-kun," the name used to describe the character in the Japanese versions, is a Japanese honorific often used with young males.
Tsuneo Gōda directs Domo episodes using stop motion animation. Gōda says that, by using this process, one can "create a work filled with feeling."
Domo, the main character, is described as "a strange creature that hatched from an egg," with a large, sawtoothed mouth that is locked wide open. Domo's favorite food is nikujaga, a Japanese meat and potato stew, and he has a strong dislike for apples, because of an unexplained mystery in his DNA. Domo can only communicate by producing a low-pitched noise which sounds somewhat like his own name, but other characters appear to understand him. A Tokyopop press release of the Domo comic book states that "he communicates sotto voce with a verve that only his friends can understand." Clint Bickham, the writer of the Domo comic book, said that to him Domo's expression is "a sort of cheery wonderment. Like when a kid wakes to a room full of presents on Christmas day." While Domo's face has variants, to Bickham most of his expressions have "an underlying sense of fascination." Domo is known to pass gas repeatedly when nervous or upset.