Kawaii Diplomacy: Hello Kitty and the Politics of Sale

Abstract
Hello Kitty, the Japanese icon that has gone global, represents some of the most far-reaching aspects of kawaii (cute) soft power in the 21st century. Since her birth by the Japanese corporation Sanrio Inc. in 1974, Hello Kitty’s image has donned numerous items, from pencils to lunchboxes to high-end jewelry and motor scooters. With Hello Kitty’s introduction to the U.S. market in 1976, followed by European markets in 1980, and official Asian markets in 1990, Hello Kitty’s expanded global “girl” culture has made her one of the most widely recognized symbols of kawaii. The Japanese government has followed in close pursuit, incorporating Hello Kitty into the fold of “Cool Japan,” dubbing Sanrio’s icon as its Ambassador of Tourism to Taiwan and Korea in 2008. But what are we to make of such large-scale image-making captured within a tiny mouthless figure? How does Hello Kitty’s successful move into Asia navigate the laden waters of colonial histories and political debate? How does Hello Kitty draw in Euroamerican markets with its answer to Disney? In what I call “kawaii diplomacy”, Hello Kitty represents a highly successful soft-power niche for Japan that builds upon an arsenal of innocence. That performed innocence calls upon an infantilized position that makes a retreat from responsibility possible. The positioning of Hello Kitty as the face of Japan represents the power of the would-be child, at once appealing, seemingly benign, and ever in need of care and nurturance. Hello Kitty’s kawaii diplomacy performs the gendered politics of scale, juxtaposing feminized “small” positions within large, masculinist frames of nation branding.

About the Speaker 
Christine R. Yano, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawai`i, has conducted research on Japan and Japanese Americans with a focus on popular culture. Her publications include Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song (Harvard, 2002), Crowning the Nice Girl: Gender, Ethnicity, and Culture in Hawaii’s Cherry Blossom Festival (Hawaii, 2006), Airborne Dreams: “Nisei” Stewardesses and Pan American World Airways (Duke, 2011), and Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty and its Trek Across the Pacific (Duke, 2013). During 2014-2015, she served as Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University, resulting in a book project with Asian American undergraduates there entitled Straight A’s: Asian American Academic Achievement. In 2014 she also served as curator of an exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum entitled “Hello! Exploring the Super Cute World of Hello Kitty.”