Yuko Shimizu, the Sanrio employee who created Hello Kitty, told BBC that her design for the character was "a white cat with a red bow in its hair." She added how the inspiration behind the ...

"What's really interesting about Hello Kitty is she was one of the first pop culture brands to introduce Japanese culture to an American audience, and really opened up that new design aesthetic ...

Yano realized Hello Kitty’s deep cultural resonance while teaching a Japanese popular culture course in 1997. Yano says her lasting appeal is attributed to her design, which evokes a sense of ...