10 interesting facts about Hello Kitty, who turns 50 in 2024

Hello Kitty turns 50 in 2024. Launched by the Japanese company Sanrio in 1974, the character shocked the internet this week when it was revealed that she It’s not a cat – actually, she is a little British girl.

In honor of the Hello Kitty’s 50th Anniversary discover other curiosities about the character:

1. Hello Kitty is not Japanese
Despite being created by Sanrio, a Japanese company founded in 1960, the official story says that she is a little British girl. “She is, in fact, a little girl born and raised in the suburbs of London . She has a mom and a dad, a twin sister, Mimmy, who is also her best friend. She enjoys baking cookies and making new friends,” Sanrio CEO Jill Cook told the Today Show last week.

2. Hello Kitty has a twin sister
Hello Kitty’s family consists of her father and mother, as well as her twin sister, Mimmy who is also her best friend. According to Jill Cook, Hello Kitty “enjoys baking cookies and making new friends.”

3. Who is Hello Kitty’s boyfriend?
Hello Kitty has a boyfriend named Dear Daniel, as well as “hundreds of other friends”, many from the Sanrio universe itself.

4. Hello Kitty has a cat
Jill Cook also noted that Hello Kitty has a kitten named Charmmy Kitty. According to Cook, “her world is huge,” also noting that she has a boyfriend, Dear Daniel, and “hundreds of other friends.”

5. Theme park in China
The character is a pop icon not only in Japan, but throughout Asia. In China, Hello Kitty has a theme park dedicated to her in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, which opened in 2015. In Japan, there is also the official Sanrio park, including other characters from the brand, Sanrio Puroland, which is located in Tama, a suburb of Tokyo.

6. Hello Kitty Train
Japan Railway West Co. (JR West), Japan’s national railway company, launched a Hello Kitty bullet train service on its Sanyo Shinkansen line in June 2018. The train vehicle is themed around the iconic red ribbon of Hello Kitty, representing the strengthening of ties between Shinkansen services and the western part of the country. The train connects the western cities of Osaka and Fukuoka and is temporarily themed around Hello Kitty. For more information on the operation dates of the themed cars, please visit JR West website.

7. UNICEF Ambassador and UN Partner
In 1983, Hello Kitty was named UNICEF’s Children’s Ambassador in the United States, and in 1994, she was named a Goodwill Ambassador for Children by the Japan Committee for UNICEF, a UN agency that promotes the rights and well-being of children and adolescents worldwide. The UN has launched a strategic collaboration with Sanrio to advance the Sustainable Development Goals. As part of the #HelloGlobalGoals collaborationa new series of videos has been released in English and Japanese on the official Hello Kitty YouTube channel.

8. How big is Hello Kitty?
“She weighs the equivalent of three apples and is the equivalent of five apples tall,” revealed director Jill Cook in an interview with the American newspaper.

9. Hello Kitty Products
Sanrio launched the first licensed product under the name Hello Kitty a Petite Purse in 1975. Since then, there have been hundreds of objects printed with the little girl and her red bow, from plush toys to toothpastes.

10. Hello Kitty in Brazil
In the Liberdade neighborhood, in São Paulo, fans of the character can find the Eat Asia + Hello Kitty . The themed restaurant is the first dedicated to the character in Latin America. According to its website, the restaurant offers products featuring the character, such as the tiara with Hello Kitty’s iconic red bow, mug, apron, bag, cap, plush toy, sweatshirts, among others. There are four more locations (another in Liberdade, Moema, Shopping Grand Plaza and São José dos Campos). On Sanrio’s official website, you can also find out about several of the character’s themed cafes around the world, such as in Vancouver, Canada.