I love the Gacha Gacha Doraemon too! http://www.bandai.co.jp/catalog/item/4543112396778000.html

Dave: Thanks for the comment! Yes, I remember those comics; they're the "bilingual editions" I mention in my post. They were intended, as you mention, as educational materials for Japanese speakers, not for entertainment or export. (The English is written in the margins, if I recall.) There is actually quite a bit of that sort of thing around - the late Kodansha International released bilingual editions of "Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro," "Princess Knight," and "Ghost in the Shell," among others. It's always cool to see translations, but I believe this edition of Doraemon lays claim to being the first true localization of the material. Apologies for not being clearer. Yokohamama, I will definitely tweet if/when they're available in other regions!

I've never bought the "Jews came to Japan" theory any more than the one about Jesus supposedly being buried in Aomori, but some theories say the yokai known as Namahage were "inspired" by shipwrecked Russian sailors hiding out in the Japanese mountains as well. http://altjapan.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/dont-fear-the-reaper.html

If we're going down that path, you can't forget the great granddaddy of all nuclear characters: Godzilla!