Saturday, July 29, 2017

Hello Kitty shows its appeal to all ages at the Hong Kong Book Fair!

Hello Kitty books for the very young

Hello Kitty fans for the young at heart?

In the space of less than a week, not one but two friends have voiced their surprise at finding out about my Hello Kitty adoration.  I think part of the reason for this is that both of them live in the US, where the target audience for Hello Kitty is way younger than I now am and also much more into the color pink than me.  

Out here in Hong Kong (like in Japan), however, there's little doubt that Hello Kitty appeals to old and young alike with a wide range of products available to interest people -- particularly but not exclusively those of the female gender -- of pretty much every age.  Taking the products available at this year's Hong Kong Book Fair as examples: There were Hello Kitty books that were clearly geared for children but also, as was the case last year, Hello Kitty-themed craft books on offer along with those for fans of popular Sanrio stablemate, Gudetama.   

The cute cat character was also the Japan Pavilion area which actually was much more about tourism promotion than book selling; with opportunities for people of various ages to dress up in Hello Kitty garb and have their photos taken, and the furry feline character's visage also being visible on such as paper fans tucked into the cloth belts of yukata-attired tourism representatives who hailed from the land where Hello Kitty was created (if not supposedly born).  

This shouldn't come as a surprise to those folks who remember that -- and no I am not kidding! -- some years back, Hello Kitty was appointed as Japan's goodwill tourism ambassador to Hong Kong (and Mainland China) by the Japanese government.  And while we're on the subject: here's pointing out that earlier this year, a retired Japanese policeman -- yes, a man as well as adult! -- was announced as the owner of the world's largest Hello Kitty collection; and that links to this piece of news was separately forwarded to me by not one but several friends! ;D

2 comments:

sarah bailey knight said...

Hi ytsl,

Three questions: Did you buy any Hello Kitty books, etc? Loved the paper fans tucked in the yukatas. Were they giving out fans as promotional material? And last but not least where are the photos of you dressed up in Hello Kitty outfits, etc???

YTSL said...

Hi sarah sbk --

1) I didn't buy any Hello Kitty books at the Hong Kong Book Fair but I do own a few Hello Kitty books (including "Hello Kitty's Guide to Japan in English and Japanese" and "Hello Kitty Sweet, Happy, Fun Book: A Sneak Peek into Her Happy Fun World").

2) I was hoping those paper fans were being given out as promotional material. If they were though, they had run out by the time I got there... ;(

3) Sorry, I didn't dress up as Hello Kitty. I love Kitty-Chan but I don't actually aspire to be or even look like her! ;D