If you have been paying any attention whatsoever to the fashion trends of women or children over the past couple of decades, there is one particularly Japanese icon that will likely stand out like a beacon of cute in the memory of most who have witnessed its adorable iconic design. By “it”, we actually mean “her” and by “her” we are referring to the one and only, superstar of Japanese female cute that is known as “Hello Kitty”. Hello Kitty is one of, if not the most globally recognizable and adorable faces in fashion today and is so purfectly expressive of such a major aspect of modern Japanese culture that one would inevitably understate it in words alone.
This cute iconic character now so globally known actually had rather humble beginnings, the first product of this icon being a small plastic coin purse in 1975. But Hello Kitty slowly, but surely, won the hearts of Japanese females and her adorable icon began gracing more and more products year after year. In the 1980’s the popularity of Hello Kitty began to truly soar as the economic boom in Japan coincided with a boom in Japanese modern cute culture. The 1980’s brought a flood of new adorable trends, including new styles of handwriting to Japanese schoolgirls which were appropriately cute and round like Hello Kitty herself, and also similar to a “Bubble”, which is the term commonly used in Japan for the economic boom of that era. A strong survivor into the 90’s and beyond, Hello Kitty has grown as a franchise to around half a billion US dollars in her parent company, Sanrio’s, annual sales and licensing contracts.
Understanding this adorably iconic character’s subliminal role in shaping modern Japanese society is rather important in order to truly understand certain archetypal behaviors and tastes of Japanese females and also how those, in turn, shape the behavior and tastes of Japanese males. The evolution of the iconic Hello Kitty is a relatively positive cultural feedback loop in which the female population of Japan has shaped this icon and its adorably polite cuteness has also apparently influenced the modern Japanese feminine persona. Hello Kitty’s personal details, such as her supposed birth in London, were influenced by the popular interests of her fans and their own dreams. In Japan she is like a national best friend and is often sweetly referred to as “Kitty-chan”, in which the “-chan” suffix used is generally reserved for close female friends and children.
Iconic Hello Kitty is nearly ubiquitous in Japanese society as her adorable icon graces everything from toothbrushes to underwear, luggage to waffle irons, and sometimes even more intimate items. Her iconic face is on passenger jets and cars, and she even has a full scale amusement park bearing her name. According to her parent company, as long as it isn’t a sharp or pointy object, hard liquor, or a firearm, licensing for the production of Hello Kitty goods is fairly open. Hello Kitty is even kind enough to appear on public service advertising for organizations such as the fire department. This is one truly versatile cat.
Her versatility continues to expand in the modern global market and she has kept up with modern trends by teaming up with popular designers such as Paul Frank and Toki Dok, both of which likely developed much of their personally recognizable styles based largely off of Hello Kitty’s icon in the first place.
Enjoy the cuddly goodness of Hello Kitty’s icon and her Japanese way of making you smile.