JAL uses Doraemon as a special livery for domestic and China routes, and there is even a dedicated Chinese page on their official website. You can see in the latest news that a new airframe has just been put into operation.

I haven’t personally seen a Doraemon livery on an international route yet. However, by sheer coincidence, while taking photos at Haneda Airport’s International Terminal on May 28th, I captured this JA622J domestic aircraft with the Nobita’s Great Adventure in the South Seas movie livery, which turned out to be its very last day in service—a real stroke of luck.

To be honest, this photo is really quite mediocre; top lighting, heat haze, and the distance was too far. It was probably only accepted by airliners.net because it was the last day of operation. (Anyway, my shooting and editing skills are still quite low…)

It’s just a pity that JAL’s special livery designs aren’t as bold as ANA’s Star Wars series. The Doraemon and the “Anywhere Door” on this aircraft are very small, and they aren’t easy to distinguish unless you look closely.

JA622J is a Boeing 767-300ER equipped with two CF6-80 engines. It entered service in May 2009, so at just 8 years old, it’s still a newcomer in the 767 family. Once the Doraemon livery is gone, I wonder what JA622J’s future paint scheme will be. If it returns to a standard livery, it will be even harder to spot at the airport.

Doraemon—I remember it used to be called “Dingbang” (Machine Cat)—it really is such an interesting comic. Today, I happened to have a small gathering with a middle school classmate I hadn’t seen in years. One of our shared topics about our student days was Japanese anime culture, like Astro Boy, Flower Angel, and Doraemon. Let’s keep the nostalgia going.

Why did the former “Machine Cat” get renamed to “Doraemon”?