ABSTRACT
Hello Kitty, a Japanese character popular with girls of all ages in Japan since the 1970s, has made significant inroads into global popular culture through her disarming cuteness, clever design, and widespread distribution. In August 2014, the news that Sanrio corrected the author’s script for an exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles to read that Hello Kitty is not a cat but instead is a little girl spread worldwide. This chapter surveys key reasons for Hello Kitty’s enduring popularity, including her globalization, commercialization, aesthetics, ties to Japanese culture, and social function in gift-giving.
