At 50, Hello Kitty is as ‘kawaii’ and lucrative as ever

TOKYO (AP) — Hiya Kitty turns 50 on Friday. Befitting a pop icon at midlife, the bubble-headed, bow-wearing character’s fictional birthday has introduced museum reveals, a theme park spectacle and a nationwide tour. And that’s simply in Japan, her literal birthplace however not the one listed in her official biography.

Confused? Welcome to the celebration. If there’s one factor about Hiya Kitty, it’s that she’s confirmed adaptable and as a lot a research in contrasts throughout her lengthy profession. She — and Kitty is a she, in accordance with the corporate that owns her — might have been conceived as a vessel for the emotions of others, however some girls see an empowering image in her mouthless face.

“Shrewd” is how Mika Nishimura, a design professor at Tokyo’s Meisei College, describes the best way Hiya Kitty conquered the worlds of commerce, vogue and leisure. As a tabula rasa open to interpretation, the non-threatening creation was the right car for earning profits, she stated.

“American feminists have stated she doesn’t say something and acquiesces to everybody. However in Japan, we additionally see how she might seem glad when you’re glad, and unhappy when you’re feeling unhappy,” Nishimura instructed The Related Press. “It’s a product technique that’s sheer genius. By being so adaptable, Kitty will get all these collaborative offers.”

The character’s semicentennial is proof of that. Sanrio, the Japanese leisure firm that holds the rights to Hiya Kitty’s title and picture, kicked off the festivities a yr in the past with an animation account on TikTok, Roblox video games and an avatar for the social networking app Zepeto.

There have been anniversary editions of merchandise starting from pet collars, cosmetics and McDonald’s Joyful Meals to Crocs and a Baccarat crystal figurine. A gold coin pendant with the picture of Hiya Kitty holding the quantity 50 is promoting for about 120,000 yen ($800), whereas a Casio watch prices 18,700 yen ($120).

However first, extra on the origin story.

Not like Mickey Mouse and Snoopy, Hiya Kitty didn’t begin as a cartoon. A younger Sanrio illustrator named Yuko Shimizu drew her in 1974 as a ornament for stationery, tote baggage, cups and different small equipment. The design made its debut on a coin purse the following yr and have become an instantaneous hit in Japan.

As Hiya Kitty’s business success expanded past Asia, so did her private profile. By the late Seventies, Sanrio revealed the character’s title as Kitty White, her top as 5 apples tall and her birthplace as suburban London, the place the corporate stated she lived along with her mother and father and twin sister Mimmy.

“The principle theme of Hiya Kitty is friendship. After I first created it, I made a household of which Kitty was a component. However then Hiya Kitty began to look in different settings because the character grew,” Shimizu instructed the BBC in June. “Sanrio put a variety of effort into constructing the model into what it’s right now.”

Sooner or later, Sanrio designated Kitty’s birthday as Nov. 1, the identical as Shimizu’s. Her background was embellished with hobbies that included enjoying piano, studying and baking. Her TV appearances required co-stars, together with a pet cat named Charmmy Kitty that made its debut 20 years in the past.

However Hiya Kitty’s fortieth birthday introduced an replace that astonished followers. Sanrio clarified to a Los Angeles museum curator that Kitty, regardless of her feline options, was somewhat lady. An organization spokesperson repeated the excellence this yr, renewing debate on-line in regards to the necessities for being thought of human.

“She is meant to be Kitty White and English. However that is a part of the enigma: Who’s Hiya Kitty? We are able to’t determine it out. We don’t even know if she is a cat,” artwork historian Joyce S. Cheng, a College of Oregon affiliate professor, stated. “There’s an unresolved indeterminacy about her that’s so wonderful.”

A part of the confusion stems from a misunderstanding of “kawaii,” which is Japanese for “cute” but in addition connotes a lovable or lovely essence. Sanrio recruited Shimizu and different illustrators to create “kawaii” characters at a time when cute, girlish types have been standard in Japan. However the phrase is used typically in Japanese society, and never solely to explain infants and puppies.

An aged man, one thing as innocuous as an umbrella, a subcompact automobile or a kitchen utensil, or perhaps a horror film monster can get labeled “kawaii.” By Western requirements, the thought could seem embarrassingly frivolous. But it surely’s taken critically in Japan, the place the idea is linked with essentially the most honorable instincts.

The complexity of “kawaii” might assist clarify Hiya Kitty’s enduring attraction throughout generations and cultures, why Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne launched a track titled “Hiya Kitty” a decade in the past, and why Britain’s King Charles wished Hiya Kitty a cheerful fiftieth birthday when he hosted Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at Buckingham Palace in June.

Though Hiya Kitty could seem to embody the self-sacrificing girl stereotype, it’s revealing that three girls have served because the character’s chief designers at Sanrio. Yuko Yamaguchi, who has held the position since 1980, is credited with preserving the character each fashionable and timeless, giving Kitty black outfits or false eyelashes as traits dictated however by no means eradicating the bow from her left ear.

“Hiya Kitty, this cultural object, has one thing to inform us in regards to the historical past of girls in East Asia, and the way East Asian girls modernized themselves and have become skilled residents in a contemporary society,” the College of Oregon’s Cheng stated.

Sanrio has provide you with lots of of creatures, all lovely and cuddly, however none with the lasting energy of Hiya Kitty. Overlook the understated wabi-sabi aesthetic traditionally related to Japan. A chameleon-like cat-girl who displays unabashed kitsch is the cultural ambassador of a consumer-crazed, happy-go-lucky nation.

“It’s the anti-wabi sabi, eager to be as flashy and as bling-bling as doable, like Girl Gaga. In your face, however that’s truly a part of the genius, too. It’s highly effective,” Cheng stated.

Leslie Bow, a professor of English and Asian American Research on the College of Wisconsin-Madison, stated that whereas many Asian and Asian American girls see Hiya Kitty as an emblem of defiance, the protecting, caretaking intuition aroused by “kawaii” isn’t with out energy.

“We maintain our siblings, our infants, our pets, as a result of we’re in management. We management their actions. And in order that can also be the darkish aspect of cute,” Bow stated.

Sanrio has taken benefit of the character’s adaptability by permitting comparatively unrestricted use of her picture in return for a licensing charge.

Absolutely anything goes for the wee whiskered one, from a rising international empire of Sanrio-sanctioned Hiya Kitty cafes to an “augmented actuality” cellphone app that exhibits Kitty dancing in entrance of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, London’s Large Ben and different vacationer landmarks.

On the unsanctioned aspect, Hiya Kitty even has proven up on weapons and vibrators.

Throughout a presentation earlier this yr in Seoul, Hiya Kitty designer Yamaguchi stated one among her unfulfilled objectives was discovering a method “to develop a Hiya Kitty for males to fall in love with as properly.” However she’s nonetheless engaged on it.

“I’m sure the day will come when males are now not embarrassed to hold round Hiya Kitty,” leisure information website Content material Asia quoted Yamaguchi as saying.

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Leff reported from London. Berenice Bautista in Mexico Metropolis contributed reporting.

Yuri Kageyama is on X: