Shopping Guide
Doraemon, the time-traveling robotic cat, was named the most popular character among children in Japan in December 2012.
The finding was in a biannual survey covering children aged between 3 and 12 released by marketing research company Video Research Ltd.
The robotic cat from the 22nd century held the top spot on the list for the eighth consecutive time since June 2009.
The latest film adaptation of the Doraemon anime series was released nationwide March 9 and became an instant box office success.
Mysterious forest spirit Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro tied with Mickey Mouse to rank second in the survey for children's most popular characters.
Meanwhile, Totoro was the most popular character among their mothers, holding the top spot for the seventh consecutive time. Mickey Mouse and the Miffy rabbit ranked second and third, respectively.
Starting from the latest survey, Video Research included data on children's usage of personal computers and the Internet.
The report showed that 44.2 percent of all the children covered in the survey are using laptop computers, with 70 percent of children aged between 10 and 12 using desktop computers.
More than 80 percent of children who have access to computers said they also browse websites.
Of them, 79.9 percent said they use the Internet to visit websites and search information, with 30.5 percent downloading video files and 27.5 percent playing online games.
YouTube was named the most frequently visited website by 43.6 percent of the children.
Many of the mothers expressed disquiet at their young ones using the Internet at such an early age. They called for more children-oriented websites.
Only 60 percent of the mothers said they browse websites together with their children.
Also, only about 50 percent said they take steps to prevent their children visiting harmful websites, according to the survey.