Hinse of Hinsefeld

Sanrio commissioned designer Yuko Shimizu to develop a new mascot character in 1974, and Hello Kitty made her commercial debut on a clear vinyl coin purse retailing for 240 yen in Japan in March of that year. Shimizu's mouthless line drawing was based on the Japanese kawaii aesthetic that Sanrio had pioneered with earlier character merchandise, and the company assigned the cat a full backstory: Kitty White, born November 1 in the suburbs of London, twin sister to Mimmy, daughter of George and Mary White. The 2014 controversy over whether Hello Kitty is a cat or a girl was resolved by Sanrio's official statement that she is a personified character rather than a literal cat, although her design includes whiskers and ears. Yuko Yamaguchi took over as lead designer in 1980 and has overseen Hello Kitty's evolving wardrobe and accessories for more than four decades. By the early 2010s the franchise generated retail sales in excess of eight billion dollars per year, ranking second only to Pokemon among Japanese character properties, and by 2014 had accumulated more than seventy-five thousand licensed product designs across categories ranging from automobiles to wedding chapels. The character has appeared in original manga shorts published by Shogakukan, in the Hello Kitty and Friends crossover comic line, and in collaboration releases with Marvel, Lego, and Razer. Sanrio aired multiple Hello Kitty animated series including Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater on CBS in 1987, Hello Kitty's Paradise on Cartoon Network in 1999, and the streaming Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures on YouTube beginning in 2020. Hello Kitty also serves as a UNICEF and United Nations Children's Fund children's ambassador, appointed in 1983 in the United States and re-appointed in 1994 internationally. The character has fronted Tokyo International Film Festival campaigns, opened multiple Sanrio Puroland and Harmonyland theme parks, and become the official tourism ambassador of Japan for several countries including China and Hong Kong since 2008.