Wearing red boots and pointy black hats, Japanese revelers paraded down a Tokyo street Sunday as a brass band played "Happy Birthday" in honor of a fictitious robot boy.

The parade was part of the nationwide festivities honoring Astro Boy, a childlike robot created on April 7, 2003, according to the original 1950s comic book by Osamu Tezuka.

The event, in Takadanobaba, Shinjuku Ward, was held on the eve of the robot's birthday to allow for a weekend celebration. It attracted 270 participants who dressed up as Astro Boy and other characters from the comic book.

"I've liked Astro Boy since I was a kid," said 38-year-old housewife Kaeko Onishi, who sported a balloon nose and puffy white cotton hair recalling Ochanomizu, the fatherly scientist from the series. "I'm having fun."

Many Japanese have fond memories of Astro Boy, having grown up watching the TV show about the flying robot with human feelings -- including self-doubt, curiosity, courage and love.

And Astro Boy, or Atom in Japanese, is making a big comeback.

His likeness is featured on products ranging from candy and tofu to toys and T-shirts.

The first episode of a revamped TV cartoon aired in Japan on Sunday. The show is likely to arrive in the United States and other parts of the world by the fall.

Takadanobaba holds special meaning for fans of the comic book because Tezuka's story says Astro Boy was born in a laboratory there.

"We want more people to know that Astro Boy was born in Takadanobaba," said Mikio Iida, 61, a parade organizer whose pastry store sold out of traditional Japanese cakes shaped like Astro Boy's head.

Of the parade participants, some were mothers who had sewn Astro Boy costumes for their babies.

A girl had greased her hair into Astro Boy-style points and marched with her grandfathers -- one dressed as Ochanomizu holding a fake birthday cake and the other as Tezuka with his trademark beret.

Researchers say the popularity of Astro Boy is one reason why Japan seems to accept domestic robots more readily than other nations do. A host of home robots, including Sony's pet robot Aibo, are on sale in Japan.