Hello Kitty Chan

You don’t have to say the whole thing. it is common for Japanese young girls to just simplify everything. So typically people including myself call her “Kiti can”. It is “Hello Kitty”, a very popular character from Japan. Sanrio first produced this fictional character, and was brought to the US in 1976. The Hello Kitty trademark generates over $1 billion annually according to wikipedia. Hello Kitty goods are popular not only among children, but they are also loved by young females all over the world.

Facts about Hello Kitty (Source: wikipedia)

Her official name: Kitty White

Birthplace:the suburbs of London, England

Birthday: November 1st

Hobbies: baking cookies

Favorite subjects in school: English, music and art.

My Japanese friend pointed out that Hello Kitty’s mouth. Hello Kitty does not have mouth. There are various explanations as to why this popular character does not have a mouth. Yuko Yamaguchi, an original designer of Hello Kitty, explained during her interview on Time magazine that Hello Kitty doesn’t have a mouth so people who look at her can project their own feelings onto her face, so when we are happy, Kitty looks happy..when we are feeling sad, Kitty looks sad as well. So Hello Kitty is intentionally made to look emotionless. I also think that it represents Japanese women especially at the time Hello Kitty was originally designed and produced by Sanrio. Women were not supposed to express their opinions and look cute and likable.