Japan picks "schoolgirl" among cute ambassadors

The appointment of the three envoys comes a year after Doraemon, a rotund blue cartoon cat with no ears, was named a special ambassador.

While serving as foreign minister, manga fan Prime Minister Taro Aso also launched an international prize for the genre.

"Whether this is a strategy on which the world's second largest economy can base its diplomacy, I have yet to be convinced," said Temple University's Deans.

(Editing by Rodney Joyce)