Hello Kitty overload

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Meet Christine Yano, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa. Prof. Yano studies Hello Kitty, among other things.

I am interested in the topic of "cute culture" in Japan, in particular as a consumer item through the business practices and goods of Sanrio (e.g. Hello Kitty). These goods, sold to children and young adult females throughout Japan, package cuteness and its cultural values as an aesthetic, a set of morals, and a prescription for action (or passive inaction). My focus is on Hello Kitty as a global product, and I have been conducting surveys in Honolulu on the consumption of these goods. I have also conducted interviews at corporate headquarters in Tokyo and South San Francisco, investigating some of the marketing strategies that have enabled global sales. My research is further enabled by the company's website, which has availed me of hundreds of pages of company literature of their business practices and goods, as well as access to chat rooms of Hello Kitty fans. Through these internet links, I have conducted on-line interviews with fans. I believe that cuteness provides a fertile ground for exploring issues of gender and power through global consumer culture.