From the pop cult magazine website:
Does it relate to any other Japanese cultural icons?
So far as we know, she was invented pure and simple. Her original designer, however, took inspiration from the cats in Through the Looking Glass. Some say she also looks disturbingly like Miffy, a two-dimensional long-earned rabbit that lives on tissue packets and lunch boxes. More broadly, she was designed during an era when animals were all the rage with kids: Snoopy, Mickey, Lassie, unicorns, and giraffes, whatever.
How was it created?
I don’t know where you read that it’s azodah zara, but it certainly doesn’t seem to be