The History of Hello Kitty

In 1974, a 24-year-old Japanese illustrator named Yuko Shimizu began working at Sanrio, which at the time specialized in making rubber sandals decorated with strawberry prints. Along with Yuko, the company hired many young illustrators to come up with their next big design, which would be centered around the concept of kawaii, the Japanese word for “cute.” Yuko drew a white cat with a red bow in its hair — Hello Kitty. According to Yuko herself, she was inspired by the memory of her father gifting her a small white kitten for her birthday when she was a child. Her design was released on small coin purses in a series that also featured six other cute characters, but Hello Kitty quickly outperformed them all. According to Yuko, she originally designed Hello Kitty as part of a family and the main theme of her character was friendship, but Sanrio built up the backstory far beyond this. As Hello Kitty gained more popularity, especially outside of Asia, Sanrio released more details about the character — her name was Kitty White, she was five apples tall, and she was born in London, England. Hello Kitty’s birthday was also designated as November 1 — the same as Yuko’s — and she was given hobbies that included playing piano, reading, and baking. A woman named Yuko Yamaguchi, who started her tenure as Hello Kitty’s chief designer in 1980, helped to flesh out the character and gave her a series of ever-changing fashionable outfits that paid homage to trends but never altered the spirit of the character. When Hello Kitty began appearing on TV, additional characters were added to the Sanrio cast, such as Hello Kitty’s pet cat, Charmmy Kitty. When Hello Kitty’s 40th birthday rolled around, Sanrio representatives told a Los Angeles museum that Hello Kitty is not, as many fans had assumed, a cat at all, but rather an eight-year-old girl. Although this shocked and confused many fans, but the company has continued to reiterate this stance over the years. Yuko Shimizu herself left Sanrio just two years after creating Hello Kitty; she started a family and now works as a freelance artist and illustrator. And Hello Kitty, of course, remains one of the most beloved and recognizable characters in the modern world.