Hello Kitty is not a cat
Hello Kitty is not a cat, the company behind Japan's cute brand 'Hello Kitty' said yesterday, despite an uproar from fans who spluttered: "But she's got whiskers!" The moon-faced creation that adorns everything from pencil cases to pyjamas the world over is, in fact, human."Hello Kitty is a cheerful and happy little girl with a heart of gold,"- Sanrio, the company behind 'Hello Kitty' said.
Yuko Yamaguchi, the third designer of Japanese cartoon 'Hello Kitty', poses with various dolls Hello Kitty, which started in 1974 in Japan as a moon-faced cartoon cat on a coin purse, has since developed into a global cultural phenomenon.AFP PHOTO / Aaron Tam
How was this shocking truth about Hello Kitty revealed?
Christine Yano, studies about culture in the University of Hawaii. She was doing a project on "kawaii" ("cute" in Japanese) and asked Sanrio about Hello Kitty turning 40 (Click here to read more about Hello Kitty turning 40 years of age). In the conversation, she "was corrected -- very firmly" by Sanrio that Kitty was not a cat."Hello Kitty is not a cat. She's a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She's never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature."
A representative from Sanrio with a Hello Kitty shaped pastryAFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO
So, who is Hello Kitty, really?
Her real name is Kitty White, an official from Sanrio explained, and she was born in southern England on November 1, 1974. She is a Scorpio and blood type A. She has a twin sister, Minny White, and lives in an unnamed suburb of London with father George and mother Mary. Despite her whiskers and pointy ears, just like the rest of her family, Kitty has her own pet -- a "real" cat named Charmmy Kitty. Her life story has always been there on the company's website, the company representative said. Many fans almost did not believe it. They said things like:said one"Hello Kitty is not actually a cat. MIND BLOWN",
A Hello Kitty shaped guitarAFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO The representative from Sanrio explained that Kitty and her family were given no specific nationality but were designed to be living in Britain, because many girls in Japan had strong admiration for the Western lifestyle in the 1970s. Ever since the mouthless white character first appeared in 1974 on a coin purse in Japan, she has graced tens of thousands of products, from handbags to aircraft, in some 130 countries. But just remember: she's not a cat. Your Views (Write about it in the comments below) Does it make a difference to you that Hello Kitty is not a cat but a human being? What are your feelings after hearing this news - are you amused, are you disappointed, you don't really care if the designers made it a human being- because you still treat it as a cat? Write about it in the comments below. by Harumi OZAWA, AFP, featured image via somedriftwood from Flickr (under Creative commons attribution). Modified by The Whiz Times to suit younger audience.
