Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Hello Kitty AI simulator
(@Hello Kitty_simulator)
Hub AI
Hello Kitty AI simulator
(@Hello Kitty_simulator)
Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty (Japanese: ハロー・キティ, Hepburn: Harō Kiti), also known by her real name Kitty White (キティ・ホワイト, Kiti Howaito), is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red bow and no visible mouth. According to her backstory, she lives in a London suburb with her family, and is close to her twin sister Mimmy, who is depicted with a yellow bow.
Hello Kitty was created in 1974 and the first item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in 1975. Originally, Hello Kitty was only marketed towards pre-teenage girls, but beginning in the 1990s, the brand found commercial success among teenage and adult consumers as well. Hello Kitty's popularity also grew with the emergence of kawaii (cute) culture. The brand went into decline in Japan after the 1990s, but continued to grow in the international market. By 2010, the character was worth $5 billion a year and The New York Times called her a "global marketing phenomenon". She did about $8 billion at retail in 2013.
UNICEF has appointed Hello Kitty children's ambassador and the Japanese government appointed her ambassador of tourism. There are Sanrio theme parks based on Hello Kitty: Harmonyland in Hiji, Ōita, Japan, Sanrio Puroland in Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan, and Hello Kitty Shanghai Times in Shanghai, China. The Hello Kitty media franchise has grown to include a number of animated series targeted towards children, as well as several comics, animated films, video games, books, music albums and other media productions. A variety of products have featured the character over the years, like school supplies, clothing, accessories, and toys, along with other items. In 2008, there were over 50,000 different Hello Kitty branded products.
In 1962, Shintaro Tsuji, founder of Sanrio, began selling rubber sandals with flowers painted on them. Tsuji noted the profits gained by adding a cute design to the shoes and hired cartoonists to design cute characters for his merchandise. Hello Kitty was designed by Yuko Shimizu and was added to the lineup of early Sanrio characters in 1974.
Hello Kitty was initially known only as "the white kitten with no name" (名前のない白い子猫). Shimizu got the name Kitty from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass; during a scene early in the book, Alice plays with a cat she calls Kitty. Sanrio's motto is "social communication", and Tsuji wanted the brand name to reflect that by including a greeting. He first considered "Hi Kitty" before finally settling on "Hello Kitty", her current name. Sanrio decided to make Hello Kitty British because foreign countries, in particular Britain, were trendy in Japan at the time of Hello Kitty's creation. Sanrio already had several characters set in the US, and it wanted Hello Kitty to be different.
In 1976 Setsuko Yonekubo temporarily took over as lead designer for Hello Kitty, after Shimizu left Sanrio. In 1980 Yuko Yamaguchi became lead designer and has remained in charge since. Yamaguchi has said that fashion, movies, and TV inspire her in creating new designs. New series involving Hello Kitty with different themed designs are released regularly, following current trends.
Spokespeople for Sanrio have said that Hello Kitty has no mouth, as they want people to "project their feelings onto the character" and "be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty." Another explanation Sanrio has given for Hello Kitty's lack of a mouth is that she "speaks from the heart. She's Sanrio's ambassador to the world and isn't bound to any particular language." However, Yuko Yamaguchi has also said that "Kitty has a mouth" that is "hidden in the fur". Representatives for Sanrio have said that they see Hello Kitty as a symbol of friendship, which they hope she will foster between people across the world. There has been speculation that Hello Kitty has her origins in Maneki Neko, a traditional Japanese cat figurine. The name "Hello Kitty" is a back-translation of Maneki Neko, meaning "beckoning cat" in English. Despite this, no definitive statement supports that speculation. Hello Kitty has also instead been put forth as an early example of mukokuseki, a Japanese term meaning "stateless" or "nationless" in reference to characters lacking any identifiable national background.
The character's first appearance on an item was in March 1975 on a vinyl coin purse sold in Japan, where she was pictured sitting between a bottle of milk and a goldfish bowl. She first appeared in the United States in 1976 when Sanrio opened a Gift Gate store in San Jose, California.
Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty (Japanese: ハロー・キティ, Hepburn: Harō Kiti), also known by her real name Kitty White (キティ・ホワイト, Kiti Howaito), is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red bow and no visible mouth. According to her backstory, she lives in a London suburb with her family, and is close to her twin sister Mimmy, who is depicted with a yellow bow.
Hello Kitty was created in 1974 and the first item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in 1975. Originally, Hello Kitty was only marketed towards pre-teenage girls, but beginning in the 1990s, the brand found commercial success among teenage and adult consumers as well. Hello Kitty's popularity also grew with the emergence of kawaii (cute) culture. The brand went into decline in Japan after the 1990s, but continued to grow in the international market. By 2010, the character was worth $5 billion a year and The New York Times called her a "global marketing phenomenon". She did about $8 billion at retail in 2013.
UNICEF has appointed Hello Kitty children's ambassador and the Japanese government appointed her ambassador of tourism. There are Sanrio theme parks based on Hello Kitty: Harmonyland in Hiji, Ōita, Japan, Sanrio Puroland in Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan, and Hello Kitty Shanghai Times in Shanghai, China. The Hello Kitty media franchise has grown to include a number of animated series targeted towards children, as well as several comics, animated films, video games, books, music albums and other media productions. A variety of products have featured the character over the years, like school supplies, clothing, accessories, and toys, along with other items. In 2008, there were over 50,000 different Hello Kitty branded products.
In 1962, Shintaro Tsuji, founder of Sanrio, began selling rubber sandals with flowers painted on them. Tsuji noted the profits gained by adding a cute design to the shoes and hired cartoonists to design cute characters for his merchandise. Hello Kitty was designed by Yuko Shimizu and was added to the lineup of early Sanrio characters in 1974.
Hello Kitty was initially known only as "the white kitten with no name" (名前のない白い子猫). Shimizu got the name Kitty from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass; during a scene early in the book, Alice plays with a cat she calls Kitty. Sanrio's motto is "social communication", and Tsuji wanted the brand name to reflect that by including a greeting. He first considered "Hi Kitty" before finally settling on "Hello Kitty", her current name. Sanrio decided to make Hello Kitty British because foreign countries, in particular Britain, were trendy in Japan at the time of Hello Kitty's creation. Sanrio already had several characters set in the US, and it wanted Hello Kitty to be different.
In 1976 Setsuko Yonekubo temporarily took over as lead designer for Hello Kitty, after Shimizu left Sanrio. In 1980 Yuko Yamaguchi became lead designer and has remained in charge since. Yamaguchi has said that fashion, movies, and TV inspire her in creating new designs. New series involving Hello Kitty with different themed designs are released regularly, following current trends.
Spokespeople for Sanrio have said that Hello Kitty has no mouth, as they want people to "project their feelings onto the character" and "be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty." Another explanation Sanrio has given for Hello Kitty's lack of a mouth is that she "speaks from the heart. She's Sanrio's ambassador to the world and isn't bound to any particular language." However, Yuko Yamaguchi has also said that "Kitty has a mouth" that is "hidden in the fur". Representatives for Sanrio have said that they see Hello Kitty as a symbol of friendship, which they hope she will foster between people across the world. There has been speculation that Hello Kitty has her origins in Maneki Neko, a traditional Japanese cat figurine. The name "Hello Kitty" is a back-translation of Maneki Neko, meaning "beckoning cat" in English. Despite this, no definitive statement supports that speculation. Hello Kitty has also instead been put forth as an early example of mukokuseki, a Japanese term meaning "stateless" or "nationless" in reference to characters lacking any identifiable national background.
The character's first appearance on an item was in March 1975 on a vinyl coin purse sold in Japan, where she was pictured sitting between a bottle of milk and a goldfish bowl. She first appeared in the United States in 1976 when Sanrio opened a Gift Gate store in San Jose, California.