This website is dedicated to providing a resource in which fans of Hello Kitty can learn more information about her. It will include facts regarding the creation of Hello Kitty, the popularization of Hello Kitty within the western world (specifically the United States), and finally some characters within the Hello Kitty franchise that are not as well known.
Hello Kitty, who is also known by her real name, Kitty White, is a white, anthropomorphic cat with her distinctive signature bow. Her character design was created by Yuko Shimizu, but she is now designed by Yuko Yamaguchi.
The founder of Sanrio, the company who owns Hello Kitty, Shintaro Tsuji, first began his career in 1962 by selling rubber sandals that had flowers painted on them. However, after some observation, Tsuji noticed that sandals with cute characters designed on them sold significantly well compared to their flower counterparts. So, he hired some cartoonists to design appealing characters for his products, eventually creating the first Sanrio characters in 1974.
Hello Kitty first appeared on a product in the March of 1975, where her design was added to a vinyl coin purse that was sold in stores located in Japan. Her first appearance in the United States was in 1976, where Sanrio opened a store in San Jose, California.
After Hello Kitty's launch in 1975, Sanrio's market had sky-rocketed. In Japan, their economy was growing, allowing younger children to purchase Sanrio's goods. Furthermore, the sudden popularity of the kawaii culture allowed Hello Kitty's demand to grow rapidly.
At first, Hello Kitty was designed with the purpose of targetting young children and pre-teens. However, Sanrio found that many teenagers and adults found much interest in her as well.
Hello Kitty is a white anthropomorphic cat with a distinctive bow that is usually pink. She was originally named, "the white kitten with no name," but was later changed to Hello Kitty to express Sanrio's encouragement of "social communication." Her backstory states that she lives in the London suburbs with her family and is very close with her twin sister, Mimmy, who was designed to have a yellow bow. One distinctive feature about her is that she has no visible mouth. Some theorize that it's to show that she "speaks from the heart" or that it's to allow buyers of her products to project their own feelings onto her. People also wonder if she has a mouth underneath her fur. However, in the end, all remains a mystery.
Tiny Chum is Hello Kitty's little teddy bear friend. He wears a bow similar to Hello Kitty, which was to represent their friendship.
Dear Daniel (his full name being Daniel Star) is Hello Kitty's boyfriend.
Mimmy White is Hello Kitty's twin sister and best friend. She is represented with the color yellow to match Hello Kitty's pink theme.
