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Hello Kitty is on stationary, pajamas, backpacks, food — she even has entire cafes dedicated to her. How does a simplistic,mouthless, humanoid cat become an internationally recognizable character adopted by children and luxury brands alike? Hello Kitty was first created in Japan by Sanrio Company in 1974, and soon became the face of Japan’s kawaii aesthetic. Kawaii refers to a Japanese pop culture aesthetic of being cute or pretty. Despite being consumed in many differing cultural contexts, the main reason why Hello Kitty translates so well amongst different consumers is her simplicity of design and emotional ambiguity that allows her to transcend cultural and language barriers. [connect to this part of thesis throughout] While Japanese post-war escapism doesn’t transmit alongside Hello Kitty, she does represent the consumerism and novelty that capitalist cultures gravitate towards.
Escapism is the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities — this term can be applied to the Japanese socio-cultural atmosphere following World War II; Hello Kitty can be seen as an object of escapism. After Japan’s loss in WWII and the devastating bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese public subconsioculy engaged in activity to portray a victim standpoint, and adopting the kawaii aesthetic seemed to make them more innocent and war-inclined. People were already struggling to recover from the shock and destruction of the war, and the 1950’s and 60’s also gave rise to student protests against the government. Schoolgirls would adopt round and cutesy handwriting, which was banned by academic institutions for being illegible. Thus, in opposition to authority, more students wrote with this type of writing. Students also found individualism in their aesthetic, which is what gave rise to the popular kawaii aesthetic in Japan. The appeal of kawaii comes from the idea that things that are innocent, helpless, and pitiable can be cute. It touches upon another Japanese sentiment “mono no aware” which refers to the bittersweet sadness associated with the transience of life and objects — for example, cherry blossoms which fall from trees, or youth. Things that are transient can be deemed appealing due to their fleetingness. Thus, young adults, and especially women, would dress in a childlike or infantile fashion in a way to express their individuality and protest the government. In order to assume a feeling of being young and without responsibility, they would act as consumers of stationary and other cute, childlike objects. Once women reach adulthood, they need to be seen as producers in society, thus acting as consumers of kawaii products allows them to escape the responsibilities of aging. The kawaii trend permeated throughout pop culture, so people consumed cute stationery and other childlike objects. In the 1970’s, the leftist movements died down, but the kawaii movement stayed. Hello Kitty, an embodiment of kawaii with baby-like proportions, a large bow, and kitten-like outline, was created and marketed at the perfect time to appeal to the Japanese public.
Hello Kitty’s minimal design is easily recognized and incorporated into products, so she was sold on novel giftable objects and everyday packaging — notebooks, pillows, lamps, and even motor oil. This aligned with Japan’s commercial and industrial development — with a larger middle class and higher incomes, people had more disposable income to purchase novel items. Even adults would purchase Hello Kitty branded merchandise simply because it was cute and it made them happy. The marketing of Hello Kitty on novel, kawaii stationery and clothing was part of this consumerist trend. Initially, she put on coin purses and stationery because it was easy to present as small gifts, especially for younger girls who enjoyed make-believe characters. Her simplistic design and lines were easily recognizable, and also her lack of expression made her emotionally ambiguous, appealing to a large number of consumers. The presentation of items with a cute figure on them also satisfied a subconscious need to feel less like war perpetrators — for example, motor oil sold under a hello kitty packaging instantly seems childlike, play toys rather than its intended purpose. Hello Kitty also represented a shift to a capitalist culture — another form of weakening governmental influence in Japan.
In 1976, Sanrio brought Hello Kitty to the United States, marketed to young girls due to her childlike and pink ambience. She lost much of her cultural context, and was consumed in the US as just another novel character in a vast pool of the United States’ already developed commercial culture. Young adults rarely adopted Hello Kitty into their lifestyle because she was seen as too childlike, and hippie culture was already the prominent way to express individualism. However, Hello Kitty’s biggest appeal was to the Asian American population. Hello Kitty was “made by an Asian company, so unlike Barbie, it was cool to have this Asian cartoon” that Asian Americans could identify with. Hello Kitty did not bring with her the Japanese escapist culture or underlying dark societal themes, but she did bring consumerism and identification with a cultural icon. While both Hello Kitty and Barbie are successful, Americans don’t view Barbie and Hello Kitty with the same values. Barbie is supposed to be an empowering figure that represents the many careers that women could hold. Hello Kitty, however, has no mouth and no expressions, and so Americans don’t see her as a symbol of American expressiveness. Hello Kitty’s ambiguity is what allows her to be successful across cultures and in different cultures — her lack of a mouth dissociates language from her character, meaning there is no language barrier preventing Americans from consuming Hello Kitty merchandise. Her appearance, and the general idea of kawaii was novel to many Americans, who would buy these items for their children simply because it looked aesthetically cute. Her ambiguous expression allows the user to project their feelings onto her, rather than forced to feel happy due to a signature expression (see: Barbie). Thus, items branded with Hello Kitty were mainly emphasizing kawaii.
On the global stage, Hello Kitty was also well received, and similar to her migration to the US, she lost her societal depth and culture. Currently, Hello Kitty is still on stationary and everyday objects to convey a sense of kawaii in everyday lifestyle. However, she is also partnered with luxury brand items, in a form of mixing luxury culture and kitsch. Hello Kitty’s simple design allows for a ubiquitous understanding of her appearance across social classes and cultures. As Hello Kitty moved beyond the boundaries of Japanese consumerism and escapism, she transitioned from a marketing strategy to a form of art that crosses the lines of commercial industries. Hello Kitty was branded on Cup Noodles, EVA Air passenger planes, and Nike Airs. Recently, luxury Italian fashion label Blumarine adopted a Hello Kitty collaboration, blurring the lines of class. Although on luxury clothing, many consumers no longer see the original context in which Hello Kitty was created and grew famous, it actually increases her depth as a cross-cultural and societal icon. As Hello Kitty ages, she collects the culture that people place onto her, and gains a global cultural depth that she would never have gotten if she had stayed in Japan. In Japan, her simplistic form and cuteness provides an avenue of escape from life’s realities and the dark undertones of the post-war society. In the United States, Hello Kitty picked up the persona of an icon of representation for Asian Americans who felt lost and disconnected from their home cultures. Through time, Hello Kitty’s collabs have shown how kawaii can transition into art by mixing class and context for cultural fusion. Currently, Hello Kitty is also viewed as a global retro icon from the 1970’s, and is being adopted by young adults into their aesthetic.
Thus, Hello Kitty does translate across global borders — however, her context has changed, and the consumers of Hello Kitty can project their own contexts onto her.
