Paradis Terrestre: Kitty in Taiwan

The trip to the United States comprised of several stops and I am not complaining. Mainly, if it was a direct flight, I won't see Hellokittyland in Taipei :)

I dubbed C3 of the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport as Hellokittyland. It has a boarding gate fully decorated with Hello Kitty, not to mention it is situated near a Sanrio store. The seats, walls and glass are all Hello Kitty inspired. They even have a Hello Kitty playroom, theater, phone booth and mini-house. Oh! I so love the place. I am a big Hello Kitty fun since I can remember but of the subtle type.

I have a friend who saw my stuffed toy and said, "This looks familiar. Is it a popular character or what?". Hahaha. For the 1st time, I met a person who is clueless as to who Hello Kitty is. He is more than a decade older than me - that explains it ha!.

Anyway, I decided to dedicate my supposedly about Taiwan blog to Hello Kitty for those who like my friend does not know Kitty White popularly known as Hello Kitty.

Hello Kitty (ハローキティ Harō Kiti) was born in London on November 1, 1974. Sanrio, a Tokyo-based company, asked designer Ikuko Shimizu to invent a character who can represent the preteen girl in every girl. Her debut picture was as a white cat wearing a red bow and blue overalls, sitting in between a bottle of milk and a pet goldfish, with her head turned sideways to face her newfound friends. Hello Kitty is not normally given a mouth because "without the mouth, it is easier for the person looking at her to project their feelings onto the character" and "the person can be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty". Since its introduction, the character has been a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture and has become a fashion diva, an icon and the best known of many fictional characters.

In a vinyl coin purse was Hello Kitty's 1st appearance on an item. It was introduced in Japan in 1974 and in the United States in 1976. Hahaha. I wasn't even born then!:) Now, Hello Kitty can be found on a variety of consumer products; from school supplies to fashion accessories to household stuff. Products range from everyday items to rare collectibles. I, myself, can't stop collecting Hello Kitty items.

Due to its popularity, A Hello Kitty anime series was aired on Tokyo TV in Japan and CBS in the United States in 1991. Toon Disney ran reruns of the said show which had 13 episodes. In the series, she lives in the suburbs outside London with her father (George White), mother (Mary White), and twin sister (Mimmy White). Hello Kitty prefers a red bow in her left ear while Mimmy prefers a yellow bow on her right ear. In their house, they have a teddy-bear and Marley who pops out of the garden. Through the series, we have known that the 3rd grader Hello Kitty is a cheerful, warm-hearted little character who loves baking cookies and loves her mom's apple pie. We also learn that her favorite things include candy, stars, and goldfish, as well as the inevitable trivial things. She weighs the same as three apples and stands five apples tall with a blood type of A.

In 1993, Dear Daniel was introduced, a similar-looking kitty who is her boyfriend. Her social circle grew to include the teen bunny Kathy, brother and sister monkeys Timmy and Tammy, and boy puppy Jody. Hello Kitty and friends also appeared in Hello Kitty's Animation Theatre, which had Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters appearing in their versions of different fairy tales. Her fame as a Sanrio character has led to the creation of two officially licensed Hello Kitty theme parks namely Harmonyland and Sanrio Puroland.

Hello Kitty also has played ambassador roles. In May 2008, Japan named Hello Kitty the ambassador of Japanese tourism in China and Hong Kong, two places where the character is exceptionally popular among children and young women. This marked the first time Japan's tourism ministry had appointed a fictional character to the role. In 2004, UNICEF has awarded Hello Kitty the exclusive title of UNICEF Special Friend of Children. More than $150,000 donation to UNICEF girls' education programmes was done by Sanrio on Hello Kitty's 30th anniversary. This was the 3rd time Hello Kitty and UNICEF have joined forces; 1st with the United States in 1984 and then with Japan in 1994. In 2010 the UK UNICEF and Hello Kitty "promise to help enable the worlds children the right to childhood".

On her 35th anniversary in 2009, a Hello Kitty Mac was launched and had a 60 percent sell just in its first week. At presents, several brands have tie-ups with Hello Kitty including the popular shoe brand Vans and Crocs.