What Is the Story of Hello Kitty?
I don't always scan through childrens books, but I do on occasion. So scanning through a couple of shelves of kids
books recently I found "What Is The Story of Hello Kitty?" by: Kirsten Anderson. It was selling for $69 on amazon. Well naturally It got
my attention. Knowing of the famous kitty of which many of the girls I knew adored when I was a child and even into
highschool and college I decided to see what all the hype(price $69) was with this book. I began reading it and was intrigued with
the Story of Hello Kitty and the entrepreneurial genius of SANRIO's founder Shintaro Tsuji.
Small Gift, Big Smile
The story begins with Shintaro Tsuji and a couple of experiences he had as a child.
Once his teacher had him give out food and clothing to those in the town who had none and
"he was struck by how happy
other people were to recieve things that seemed so simple to him"
On another occasion he gave a boy he knew some baseball cards.
"The boy was delighted, and Tsuji realized that even
small things can bring great joy"
Precursors and SANRIO
In 1960 Tsuji started his own business called the Yamanashi Silk Center. Tsuji and his employees sold silk products all
over Japan manufactured in thier state Yamanashi. In 1962 they began selling rubber beach sandals. To stand out from the
competition Tsuji added a small flower to each. They sold well and they even recieved orders from outside Japan.
He adopted the same strategy with other items adding a strawberry on wallets and slippers and these items were also
successful. "He realized that just by adding a simple decoration to something so ordinary, he could increase sales".
In 1971 Tsuji opened his first store called Shunjuki Gift Gate and two years later he changed the name to SANRIO based on
the chinese and japanese word for three "San"(roman letter style) and the spanish word for river RIO for three famous
civilizations that thrived because of three famous rivers. The Tigris, the Nile and the Yellow river.
Kitty White, Hello!
Tsuji Had payed several famous artists to use their characters on Sanrio products. But he wanted Sanrio to have its own
characters. In 1974 a designer brought in a new drawing of a character called Kitty White. Tsuji was not very impressed
with the character but decided to use it anyway.
"The drawing of Kitty White appeared on a coin purse in 1975, with Hello!
printed in red letters above her."
The product was a success and so Kitty White AKA Hello Kitty was put on other products as well.
Final Thoughts on The Story and some loose ends
I found the story of Hello Kitty fascinating. The book was well written and a quick read. I would have never thought to
look at Hello Kitty as a source of entreprenurial inspiration but here we are. The idea of adding simple decorations to
otherwise mundane items is something we can all take note of. I will always keep an eye out for ideas that fit this
train of thought now where as I might have never looked at design in this way. The book covers more details of the
story and even has a timeline, but for me these are the big take aways. Want to know more? Read the book.
What Is the Story of Hello Kitty?
(Maybe check it out at the library, no longer in print). One last note on Hello Kitty. She is collectible. Mentioned in
the beginning of the book, the guiness book of world record holder for the most Hello Kitty Items was tributed.
Perhaps that explains the $69 price tag for this book!
