Last week, Hello Kitty celebrated her 48th birthday. When I was younger, I was obsessed with Sanrio, the Japanese company that created beloved characters including Hello Kitty, Kuromi, My Melody, Keroppi, Chococat, and Badtz Maru. Sanrio was founded by entrepreneur Shintaro Tsuji on August 10, 1960, who originally sold products such as silk and rubber sandals. Recognizing that sandals with cute designs tended to be best-sellers, Tsuji began producing more “cutesy” products featuring Snoopy from Peanuts. The company changed its name from Yamanashi Silk Company to Sanrio in 1973 and created its signature character, Hello Kitty, the following year. Despite the popularity of Hello Kitty, I preferred other characters due to one question – “Why doesn’t Hello Kitty have a mouth?”.
Legend has it that Hello Kitty was not created by Shintaro Tsuji, but instead by a Chinese woman whose fourteen year old daughter was terminally ill with cancer of the mouth. After unanswered prayers in an attempt to cure her daughter’s cancer, the mother made a deal with the devil that in order to save her daughter, she would have to create a cartoon character that appealed to children worldwide. By doing so, the devil would be satisfied with gaining worshipers. The other variation of that legend is that in order to cure her daughter’s mouth cancer, the mother removed her mouth. Thus, Hello Kitty’s lack of a mouth was to resemble the designer’s daughter.
While I am unsure of the origin of that legend, the true story behind Hello Kitty not having a mouth is much more family-friendly. Shintaro Tsuji explained that he wanted Hello Kitty’s facial expressions to be ambiguous. Rather than Hello Kitty displaying a certain emotion, she was designed for customers to decide her expression. If someone felt happy, they could imagine Hello Kitty with a smile. If someone felt sad, they could imagine her with a frown. Similarly, some of Sanrio’s other cat characters such as Chococat and Charmmy Kitty are also mouthless. Hello Kitty is and should remain a popular character for allowing people to relate to her and channel their inner artist to draw in her mouth.