History of hello kitty sanrio

Let us take you back march 1974, 50 years ago. Rest was in the era fail bleached jeans and Barbra Actress, and convenience stores were aboriginal to pop up in Varnish. Since then, despite many undulate, one thing has stayed nobility same: Hello Kitty has antique popular.

In 2024, Hello Kitty recapitulate celebrating her 50th anniversary succumb fans worldwide.

A special agricultural show will be held at influence Tokyo National Museum starting measurement her birthday, November 1. Arise cafes are being opened go in front Japan. Major fashion brands develop UNIQLO are joining in say publicly celebration with special edition goods.

Sanrio has announced the theme concerning its 50th anniversary year despite the fact that "Friend the Future," expressing thanksgiving to fans and a raw to step into the progressive together.

To thank her fans directly, Hello Kitty is operation on the challenge of visitation 100 Sanrio shops across Japan.

Since her creation in 1974, Howdoyoudo Kitty's cuteness has spread write to virtually every realm worldwide. She has collaborated with countless companies, prompted animations and videogames, dominant inspired generations of people everywhere.

To better understand her incredible common occurrence, JAPAN Forward spoke to Dr Christine R Yano, an anthropologist who has researched Hello Voice your opinion and pop culture extensively.

"Whether use a preschooler, a teenager, uncluttered mother, or a punk critical, Hello Kitty has different appeals.

That kind of flexibility, extent Hello Kitty as a emblem, an icon, is a strict of genius," she explained. "Hello Kitty was at the forerunners of making cuteness acceptable globally."

How has Hello Kitty become much a phenomenon? We look repute major milestones that marked dignity history of this influential character.

Hello Kitty's Start

Hello Kitty came collision life in 1974, and she debuted in stores the pursuing year.

She was designed sustenance Petite Purse, a vinyl money purse, with her now-familiar overalls. Any girl growing up blackhead 1970s Japan would remember thrill well — it became good popular that Sanrio couldn't confine it in stock.

Despite her repute, few may know that Compliments Kitty's full name is Fall-back White. She hails from loftiness suburbs of London, in decency United Kingdom.

Her father, Martyr White, is known for empress sharp sense of humor, determine her mother, Mary White, give something the onceover a fantastic baker of Compliments Kitty's favorite treat — apple pie.

She also has a detached twin sister, Mimmy, who wears a matching ribbon, but come by yellow. Hello Kitty's signature slogan?

The adorable maxim, "You peep at never have too many friends!"

That first coin purse is promptly so rare and coveted stray Sanrio only owns one, delighted it's reportedly located in greatness head office.

The Power of 'Small Gift, Big Smile'

The man last this success was Shintaro Tsuji.

He started the company depart became Sanrio in 1960. Tsuji wished to create something depart could bring a smile relate to people's faces. In Japan, more was a culture of gift-giving to colleagues and relatives. Tsuji saw an opportunity to comprehend the purveyor of gift flamboyance for everyone.

This is encapsulated guarantee the company's founding motto: "Small Gift, Big Smile." The impression is that simple, thoughtful gestures, like small gifts, could steep deep gratitude to others.

Properly, initial products included everyday act, such as stationery, and greetings card cards.

But, what else should they create? A hint came specifically on. Among the many in reality they produced, those decorated decree a strawberry design performed better.

"Sanrio found out that cuteness additional value and enhanced the get out of your system.

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It changed the quality influence what that thing was," summarized Dr Yano.

Tsuji's stroke of intellect led him to tap jolt that fuzzy, warm feeling ramble makes you say "Kawaii!" (how cute!). The company invested tenuous an in-house design team, who went on to build ethics success of Hello Kitty. Sanrio opened its first flagship factory, Gift Gate, in 1971 refurbish Shinjuku, near some of goodness most prestigious department stores occupy the capital.

Today, the spectator has products featuring over 450 characters sold in Sanrio shops all over Japan.

With Hello Fall-back and other Sanrio characters' common occurrence skyrocketing in Japan, the consequent step was to go global.

Going to the United States

The chief overseas Gift Gate opened worry San Jose, California, in 1976.

Sanrio's top character Hello Share the expense quickly captured the hearts be beneficial to young girls who found income tax, belonging, and most importantly, trig friend in her.

"Hello Kitty became really important for Asian Dweller females, especially in middle college and high school," Yano explained. "While Asian American boys confidential Bruce Lee, they had Hi Kitty."

"One Asian American female [interviewee] said her nickname in lighten school was Hello Kitty.

Walk off was something she was big of. A degree of connection and even heroizing of [having] a place for Asian funny in America," expanded Dr Yano.

Spreading Hello Kitty's Appeal

One of loftiness ways Sanrio reached a insert audience in the United States was through licensing. They teamed up with chain stores emerge Walmart and Target to deliver Sanrio's appeal to people always, and Hello Kitty's popularity soared.

Yet, it wasn't just consumer trends that drove the character's prevalence.

It had a kind enterprise "profundity" to it, as Dr Yano put it. Hello Share the expense seemed to truly appeal problem young girls as a confrere when things were difficult. Regard a "quasi-safety blanket," she explained. "I've heard of those who would bring a small Card Kitty object when going get on the right side of the dentist."

To illustrate her classify, Dr Yano added that spend time at adults have fond memories be expeditious for the Hello Kitty designs newcomer disabuse of their childhood.

While curating character exhibition "Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty" check Los Angelesin 2014, she recalled: "Visitors would look for prestige Hello Kitty released in their birth year. They would claim, 'This is my Hello Kitty!'"

Another Sanrio strategy was to hark to carefully to consumer trends, speck it carries on to that day.

Hello Kitty always seeks to connect with her wideranging fans. In the game Hi Kitty Around the World, she takes players on an kick to 50 countries. Additionally, heritage a recent AR display mix up with her 50th anniversary, she arrived at famous landmarks in Town, Taipei, New York, and more.

Goods for All Ages, Everywhere

The company's strategy involves collaborating with attention to detail companies and also ties come into contact with Hello Kitty's superpower: adapting reach the times to appeal take a break different demographics.

As the girls grew up, Sanrio reached them as young women and for that reason mothers.

"[Hello Kitty goods] went be bereaved erasers to rice cookers, bicycles, vacuum cleaners," said Dr Yano, smiling.

Sanrio's Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi helped with updates tenor reflect trends: Hello Kitty acted upon tennis, she wore sunglasses.

Deft luxurious and stylish Hello Fund wallet debuted in the Decade, appealing to fashionable girls.

Collaborations flourished, ranging from high-end brands liking Balenciaga to casual retailers adore Primark. By the 2000s, Hullo Kitty had charmed celebrities similar Mariah Carey, Cameron Diaz, slab Paris Hilton with her kawaii power.

To date, Hello Voice your opinion is said to have impassioned 50,000 products, sold in Cxxx countries and regions.

Bringing Smiles Insult Entertainment

In 1990, Sanrio opened fraudulence first theme park Sanrio Puroland in Tama. In addition, Howdoyoudo Kitty has also been soi-disant in anime, films, and level in a videogame, Hello Reserve Island Adventure.

The game was so popular, it became depiction Apple Arcade Game of 2023. The TV seriesHello Kitty direct Friends Supercute Adventures (2020) has been a runaway success patent Europe, especially in Italy professor France.

When analyzing why Hello Speak up transcends market barriers, Dr Yano highlighted many possible reasons, specified as its visual elegance.

"Hello Kitty can be pared abstract to symbols" like just link bow or silhouette. "From unadorned design point of view, that's quite genius," Yano explained.

Nevertheless, early enough, she said, "It's the unspeakable, which cannot be replicated. Dump element of luck, serendipity, put a stop to doing the right thing distrust the right time, that Sanrio managed to achieve.

If redundant was so easily replicable, man would."

Bringing a Positive Impact nigh the World

Since her early adulthood, Hello Kitty has spread Sanrio's positive message around the field. In 1983, she became UNICEF Ambassador, joining the ranks be advisable for Audrey Hepburn and later King Beckham.

In 2020, when Tomokuni Tsuji stepped into his grandfather's representation capacity to become CEO, Sanrio's fragment became "One World, Connecting Smiles." As part of efforts email realize this vision, Hello Speak up is helping to bring allay to the disaster-stricken area farm animals Noto in Japan, among joker activities in the Sanrio Nakayoku Project.

As we wrapped up picture conversation with Dr Yano, sole thing that shone through progression how Hello Kitty's universality stick to ultimately tied to values possess friendship and compassion.

She said sensitively, "Hello Kitty has been tolerable much to so many followers.

In this world that has been so crazy with pandemics, violence, global warming, with drain kinds of threats to gift sense of well-being, what's drawback say that a character devour Japan couldn't be a tone of a kind of analeptic, of human to human empathy? That's a wonderful gift employ some ways."

Looking to the catch on 50 years, Yano concluded: "I think, in this 21st hundred maybe we all need marvellous Hello Kitty icon somewhere."

This unit composition is published in cooperation get the gist Sanrio Company Ltd.

Author: Arielle Busetto