Tokyo (AFP) - Hello Kitty is not a cat, the company behind Japan's global icon of cute insisted Thursday, despite an uproar from Internet users 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," brand owner Sanrio says on its website.
The shocking revelation came to light when a Hawaii-based academic specialising in the epitome of "kawaii" ("cute" in Japanese) asked Sanrio to fact-check captions for an exhibition she was curating to mark the 40th anniversary of Hello Kitty
Christine Yano, an anthropologist from the University of Hawaii, told the Los Angeles Times that she "was corrected -- very firmly" by Sanrio that Kitty was not a cat.
"That's one correction Sanrio made for my script for the show," the paper quoted her as saying.
"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."
And indeed, an AFP enquiry as to the status -- feline or otherwise -- of one of Japan's most famous exports confirmed her non-cat identity.
"It is a 100-percent personified character," a Sanrio spokesman told AFP in Tokyo. "The design takes the motif of a cat, but there is no element of a cat in Hello Kitty's setting."
View galleryPresident of Japanese character business giant Sanrio, …
President of Japanese character business giant Sanrio, Shintaro Tsuji smiles as he poses with charac …
- Agog at the news -
Her real name is Kitty White, he 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, according to her profile on the web.
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, the spokesman said, adding the personification is meant to make her fans feel closer to the character "as a friend".
Web users were agog at the news.
"Hello Kitty is not actually a cat. MIND BLOWN", tweeted @killedbydying
"'Sanrio confirms that Hello Kitty is NOT a cat.' One of the many reasons why I have trust issues", wrote @eisakuivan
"So Hello Kitty isn't a cat? Everything I know is a lie," said @nymbc
Asked about the worldwide reaction to the shock revelation that Hello Kitty is not a cat, the Sanrio spokesman offered: "I don't think anyone in Japan found it surprising."
"There is an explanation we have made the whole time, and I think that's how people have understood it."
A straw poll of Japanese people within the AFP Tokyo bureau found that not to be the case, however.
The Sanrio spokesman 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.
Post by cinnamoncox on Aug 29, 2014 6:32:22 GMT -5
Ok she has a blood type? Wtf? No, she's a cat. Come on. Kitty Katerina on Daniel Tiger is a cat who walks on two legs and talks, but since she's clearly a cat and has "Kitty" in her name, she's a cat. How is this even a question? Jeez.
Why is this news everywhere?! This totally jives with my worldview of Japan. Also, it doesn't change anything at all. It's just a cute character. So she's not a cat. Is suspending disbelief for that too hard? We can believe a cat wears clothes and walks upright, but we can't believe there is a little girl that is named Kitty and LOOKS like a Kitty? Let's not overthink it. You know a 4-year-old won't.
I am going to test this tonight by telling DD that Hello Kitty is not a cat.
Why is this news everywhere?! This totally jives with my worldview of Japan. Also, it doesn't change anything at all. It's just a cute character. So she's not a cat. Is suspending disbelief for that too hard? We can believe a cat wears clothes and walks upright, but we can't believe there is a little girl that is named Kitty and LOOKS like a Kitty? Let's not overthink it. You know a 4-year-old won't.
Booshit. I know a number of 4 year olds who would look at you like you'd LOST YOUR MIND if you told them that Donald was not a duck, Minnie is not a mouse, Daniel is not a tiger, etc.
They don't over think but they sure are literal and if its got whiskers and ears and is called kitty? Its a cat.
Why is this news everywhere?! This totally jives with my worldview of Japan. Also, it doesn't change anything at all. It's just a cute character. So she's not a cat. Is suspending disbelief for that too hard? We can believe a cat wears clothes and walks upright, but we can't believe there is a little girl that is named Kitty and LOOKS like a Kitty? Let's not overthink it. You know a 4-year-old won't.
Booshit. I know a number of 4 year olds who would look at you like you'd LOST YOUR MIND if you told them that Donald was not a duck, Minnie is not a mouse, Daniel is not a tiger, etc.
They don't over think but they sure are literal and if its got whiskers and ears and is called kitty? Its a cat.
Good lord, this. Little kids are literalism personified.
I can attest that almost 4yos and almost 8yos were as completely blown away by this news as I was. Because we talked about it at dinner last night. Scarlett and Jackson both looked at me like I was bonkers.
To quote Scarlett, "why would someone say Hello Kitty is a little girl and not a kitty?!?!?!" GOOD QUESTION.
I did learn, however, that Jackson loves to watch the show on netflix (or used to) and he knew all about HK and her family/friends. Including her twin Mimmy.
I have been arguing with my kids for an entire year over what this animal is. I tell them it's a giraffe but because it has spots like a kitty (cheetah) they refuse to call it anything other than a kitty-giraffe. This has been going on since last summer!
If you think for one second that I'm gonna go down the Hello Kitty rabbit hole with them, you are drunk!
I have been arguing with my kids for an entire year over what this animal is. I tell them it's a giraffe but because it has spots like a kitty (cheetah) they refuse to call it anything other than a kitty-giraffe. This has been going on since last summer!
If you think for one second that I'm gonna go down the Hello Kitty rabbit hole with them, you are drunk!
I know a once 4 year old who would look Sanrio reps in the face and say, "Um, Hello KITTY is clearly just an anthropomorphized cat. You're not fooling anyone."
On a related note, yes, a 4 year old refreshed "anthropomorphism" into my vocabulary 3 years ago.
I have been arguing with my kids for an entire year over what this animal is. I tell them it's a giraffe but because it has spots like a kitty (cheetah) they refuse to call it anything other than a kitty-giraffe. This has been going on since last summer!
If you think for one second that I'm gonna go down the Hello Kitty rabbit hole with them, you are drunk!
Clearly this is an elephant. the expression the cheetah had when that manly giraffe got intimate with him to create this offspring. Der.
My daughter is ten and she has said she won't hear of Hello Kitty being anything but a cat. "Who said that, mom? Of course she's a cat. Hello? Kitty?" I explained the whole Sanrio thing and she said, "Whatever, mom. I'm still calling her a cat."
Lol. This reminds me of DS quizzing me about the illogic of Mickey Mouse Club House recently (I.e. if they're all animals who talk, why doesn't Pluto talk?) Idk, good question! Disney does that a lot.
Maybe it's time for you all to give your kids a lesson on Japanese culture. This is a country that has used panties in vending machines for businessmen to purchase. This is far from the worst thing they've unleashed upon the world.
I still want to know how I can get in on this. New underwear every day, and not having to work other than to wear the panties? Sign me up.
Booshit. I know a number of 4 year olds who would look at you like you'd LOST YOUR MIND if you told them that Donald was not a duck, Minnie is not a mouse, Daniel is not a tiger, etc.
They don't over think but they sure are literal and if its got whiskers and ears and is called kitty? Its a cat.
Good lord, this. Little kids are literalism personified.
I think the problem is with the entire philosophical basis of Japanese society vs. everyone else. They're all "duh, she's an anthropomorphic cat and, accordingly, is neither cat nor person, but instead a girl named Kitty from England."
And everyone else is like "wtf, cats have whiskers and pointy ears, HK has whiskers and pointy ears, ergo HK is a fucking cat. Like how Goofy is a dog even though he talks and doesn't walk on all fours."
And then Japan is all "Yeah, like we said, not a cat."
Maybe it's time for you all to give your kids a lesson on Japanese culture. This is a country that has used panties in vending machines for businessmen to purchase. This is far from the worst thing they've unleashed upon the world.
Do we have any Japanese people where who can weigh in on whether they find it offensive that this one very specific kink being catered to in a fairly safe and consensual way constantly gets trotted out as evidence of how their culture is generally fucked up?
I don't understand what's happening here. Because I refuse to make my daughter acknowledge that Hello Kitty is not in fact a cat, I'm saying "fuck you" to Japanese culture?
Do we have any Japanese people where who can weigh in on whether they find it offensive that this one very specific kink being catered to in a fairly safe and consensual way constantly gets trotted out as evidence of how their culture is generally fucked up?
Only on CEP would this go here. KOKO, y'all.
Also, child porn was just made illegal, if we want to make this some sort of SERIOUS BUSINESS conversation. There's a great example of cultural issues.
Dude, you're the one who wanted to make this a critique of Japanese cultural issues! And in a PAINFULLY cliche'd way too. in other words...