Hello Kitty is Everywhere… (Week 10)

I grew up with Hello Kitty being everywhere: the mall, the grocery store, on candy, on cellphone cases. So it was interesting to find out about Sanrio’s background. I always just accepted Hello Kitty and never thought much about her presence. I bought Hello Kitty merchandise because it was cute and a lot of my friends had her stuff.

I really enjoyed this weeks reading on Hello Kitty. I actually learned a lot of new details about Hello Kitty that I never knew before. I definitely did not know how much thought the company put in to make her into a global figure. In class, I was surprised to hear that most British people did not know that Hello Kitty was created in Japan. Growing up, I always thought Hello Kitty originated in Japan and was Japanese. However, my mind was blown when I found out that she is actually British! Therefore, I believe that Tsuji Shintarō did a good job with the way he decided to market Hello Kitty. He was able to create this ambiguity about Hello Kitty so that a majority of people can enjoy her. In the text it states that Shintarō searched for a name that would leave behind the “Japanese odor” of the company’s original name. As a result he created “’Sanrio’” from a combination of San (as in many names of West Coast cities in the United States, such as San Francisco…) and Rio (Spanish for River).” This fact really stood out to me because I just always assumed that “Sanrio” was Japanese. When I told my roommates this, they were surprised too. I would have never thought that he was inspired by Walt Disney and California to name his company “Sanrio.”

It is crazy how we just grow up with these companies and products without knowing their intentions and origins. After reading this article and talking about it in class, it made me realize all the places and products Hello Kitty is actually on. I believe that Shintarō was successful in making Hello Kitty a household name like Mickey Mouse. So many people around the world know these characters.