His nickname amongst Japanese sumo fans was "Moomin", because of his facial resemblance to the hippo-like cartoon characters.
When Obokata became a unit leader of the Riken Center for Developmental Biology, she changed the color of her laboratory's wall to pink and yellow and decorated the room with Moomin items and stickers.
Bjork had previously declared to be a big fan of Moomins, and had worn clothes featuring characters from the series on several occasions.
The school's motto is, "The basis of all learning lies in philosophy." As an image which embodies this spirit of intellectual achievement through philosophy, an animated film character from the Swedish-Finn Moomins animation series is its mascot.
But Finnish author Tove Jansson, creator of the Moomin books, objected strongly to the depiction of the characters in the series.
Icelanders Björk and Sjón, both big fans of the Moomin franchise, composed "The Comet Song" for the film's soundtrack.
He is best known for composing the soundtrack to the 1990-1992 Moomin anime TV series, based on the Moomin books and comic strips by illustrator and author Tove Jansson.