The face that launched a thousand products
MOST HAVE to wait until their centenary to receive birthday wishes from the king of Britain. But King Charles III made an exception for “a self-made entrepreneur worth billions of dollars and a unicef children’s ambassador on top”. The monarch was feting a figure more recognisable than any billionaire or emissary: Hello Kitty, who turns 50 this year.
The character was created by Shimizu Yuko, a Japanese illustrator, on November 1st 1974. Soon after, Kitty was appearing on an astounding array of trinkets. Today you can wear her face on your hands, with OPI fake nails, or your feet, in the form of Adidas trainers. You can wash yourself in a Hello Kitty shower and dry yourself with a Hello Kitty towel. (Unofficially, you can even brandish a Hello Kitty AK47, or have sex using a Hello Kitty condom.) Sanrio, the company which owns the character, makes almost $4bn in sales annually.
Kitty’s popularity is emblematic of the global craze for cute things. In Japan the phenomenon, known as kawaii, dates back to at least the 17th century, when artists started producing miniatures and paintings of animals. Despite the name, whiskers and pointy ears, Kitty is supposedly not a cat, but a little girl who lives in the suburbs of London with her family.
Kawaii implies vulnerability and dependency, yet there is a sense of asobi—playfulness—to the way Kitty looks. Her charm lies in her expressionless face: she is composed of just three circles, six lines and a red bow, notes Joshua Paul Dale, a specialist in Cute Studies at Chuo University in Tokyo. The simplicity of the design makes it easy to reproduce on all manner of items. Unlike Mickey Mouse, Kitty’s look has not had to be updated.
Kitty was born in the right place, at the right time. Kato Norihiro, a cultural critic, has argued that she reflects the aftermath of the second world war. With no meaningful back story, Kitty represented the mood in Japan and “the impulse to escape history and to stop talking about it”. She emerged as “the perfect post-war icon”, agrees Roland Kelts of Waseda University. “Japan’s warrior nation was shoved under the rug and the message to Japan was: ‘Shhh, look cute and beautiful’.”
She also coincided with a changing social and economic landscape. In the 1970s women joined the workforce in greater numbers; they earned money and spent it on cute items for themselves. Yet even when Japan’s economy faltered in the 1990s, Kitty remained popular. When the mood is sour, sweet things are even more desirable. You “want to retreat into that fluffiness”, says Christine Yano, an anthropologist and the author of a book on Kitty’s omnipresence. (Studies have shown that looking at cute things can reduce stress and improve your mood.)
The character went global towards the turn of the 20th century, as Japan became an increasing source of fascination and inspiration in the West. Demand for anime films and manga comic books grew. In 2013 the Japanese government, seeking to capitalise on this cool status, introduced a policy to promote the country’s culture abroad.
Hello Kitty has been such a hit that other firms are trying to replicate her success. Chinese companies are investing in new cartoons; Sanrio, too, frequently puts out more characters. Since 2017 Cinnamoroll, a dog with a curly tail, has often ranked top of Sanrio’s annual survey of its most popular characters. As new characters come and go, Hello Kitty wears the same inscrutable expression.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Still cute at 50” (Oct 31st 2024)
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