In May 2008, Japan named Hello Kitty the ambassador of Japanese tourism in both China and Hong Kong, which are two places where the character is exceptionally popular among children and young women. This marked the first time Japan's tourism ministry had appointed a fictional character to the role. Hello Kitty is included as part of the Sanrio livery at the Japanese theme parks Harmonyland and Sanrio Puroland. Jewelpet ( ジュエルペット, Juerupetto) are a group of animal characters created in 2008 as a joint-venture between Sanrio and Sega Toys. There are 39 characters in the franchise and each of the animals are named after famous birthstones, minerals, and jewels. They each have a different kind of sparkling jewel for their eyes, used for casting special magic called "Jewel Flash". They belong to magicians and live in a mystical place called Jewel Land, attend a school to learn more about magic, and each of them are paired with their own human partners. The main Jewelpets in the series are Ruby the white Japanese Hare (whose birthday is on July 29), Sapphie the blue and yellow Cavalier King Charles spaniel (whose birthday is on September 1), Garnet the pink Persian Cat (whose birthday is on January 8), and Labra the pink and white polar bear (whose birthday is on December 27). For the 50th anniversary of Sanrio, Sanrio and Girl Skateboards collaborated and released skateboards with a Hello Kitty graphic. There is a Hello Kitty store in Africa opening 2013.

My Melody is a little girl rabbit who always wears a red or pink hood that also covers her ears. Her birthday is on January 18. My Melody's rival is Kuromi. For a long while afterwards, Sanrio made no particular effort to replace Hello Kitty's designer. Soon Yuko Yamaguchi joined Sanrio in the midst of the Kitty boom in 1978, at the age of twenty-two, hoping to get a job focused on advertising. When Tsuji had learned of the team planning to abandon Kitty, he fought to keep her and decided to hold an in-house competition for new concepts for Hello Kitty. There are also many songs based on Hello Kitty. 2 of the most popular are by Slayyyter & Avril Lavigne Hello Kitty ( ハローキティ, Harō Kitī), also known by her full name, Kitty White ( キティ・ホワイト, Kitī Howaito), is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, created by Yuko Shimizu, and designed by Yuko Yamaguchi. She is the main protagonist of the franchise that was named after her. She is portrayed as a female white Japanese Bobtail Cat with a red bow worn on her left ear and often wears blue overalls with a yellow shirt. The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974. In Hello Kitty's Paradise, Hello Kitty & Friends, and Growing Up with Hello Kitty, she has gray paw pads. Hello Kitty's favorite food is her mama's apple pie.

There is a themed restaurant named Hello Kitty Sweets in Taipei, Taiwan. The restaurant's decor and many of its dishes are designed after the Hello Kitty character. Keroppi ( はすの上 けろっぴ, Hasunoue Keroppi) (also known as Kerokerokeroppi) is a frog character with large eyes and a V-shaped mouth. Keroppi loves adventure, and his bubbly personality makes him popular around Donut Pond. He has a brother called Koroppi and a sister called Pikki. Most often he is seen with his little snail friend Den Den, always tagging along a little behind. Keroppi is a fantastic swimmer and singer (but not at the same time). As of August 2007, Thai police officers who have committed minor transgressions such as showing up late or parking in the wrong place are forced to wear pink Hello Kitty armbands for several days as penance.

Like other Sanrio characters, Chococat appears on a variety of merchandise including stationery, coffee mugs, plush toys, bath towels, hats, purses, notebooks, etc. In America, Chococat is one of Sanrio's most popular characters with both adults and children. On April 21, 2020 Hello Kitty made an official crossover live action video called Shimajiro & Hello Kitty in Exercise with Friends in which the mascots of Shimajiro and Hello Kitty joins together to get people to dance and exercise during the Coronavirus pandemic. Little Twin Stars is a pair of characters made by Sanrio. The little brother is called Kiki while the elder sister is called Lala. Kiki has blue hair, while Lala has pink hair (sometimes, Kiki's hair is brown, while Lala's hair is blonde). Both have a birthday of December 24. They were introduced in 1975 and enjoyed popularity in the early 1980s. In 2015, she made a playable appearance in Super Mario Maker in the form of a Mystery Mushroom costume in the "Super Mario Bros" theme exclusively. When the player plays as her (or My Melody, who also appears as a costume) the jungles have Hello Kitty effects.In 1996 Big Top Productions released Hello Kitty Big Fun Deluxe for Mac & Windows with three guest characters Joey Mouse, Cathy Rabbit, and Thomas Bear making appearances within the game. Hello Kitty cameos with Keroppi and Badtz-Maru in the first few minutes of the 2018 film Ready Player One. Kitty also gets a few more appearances in the film such as a motorcycle decal and as a costume.

As of August, 28th, 2014 it was rumored Hello Kitty is a human girl and not a cat. However, it has been confirmed that Hello Kitty is actually a gijinka (anthropomorphic) cat and not human. [1]Shimizu’s former assistant, Setsuko Yonekubo—the same one who had declared Shimizu’s initial illustration so very kawaii—oversaw Kitty during the boom years. She introduced incremental innovations like the first portrayal of Hello Kitty in a standing pose, but otherwise made a point of hewing closely to her predecessor’s linework, down to using a photocopied template of Kitty’s face to ensure uniformity. Whether because of this conservative approach or because of the ever-changing whims of young children, the first Kitty fad ran out of steam around 1979. Yonekubo took the opportunity to announce her own retirement, for she wanted to start a family of her own. The Hello Kitty brand rose to greater prominence during the late 1990s. At that time, several celebrities, such as Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga, had adopted Hello Kitty as a fashion statement.

in the 2013 Character Ranking, if he reaches 30th place or higher, he will try to be popular in Japan as well. However he failed to reach that rank. Sanrio and various corporate partners have released Hello Kitty-branded products, including the Hello Kitty Stratocaster electric guitar (since 2006, with Fender in the US) and even an Airbus A330-20 commercial passenger jet airliner, dubbed the Hello Kitty Jet (2005–2009, with EVA Airways in Taiwan). Hello!" —Kitty as the intro to Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures comes to a close, just before Keroppi flies in on his kite.

Hello Kitty

While she first appeared in the United States in 1976, Hello Kitty's popularity continued to boom throughout 1977. However, Yuko Shimizu left in the same year Kitty first appeared in the United States, as she had gotten married and focused on family in the meantime. Hello Kitty was also chosen by AH-Software to become a Vocaloid. The choice was attributed to the fact it was their 50th year anniversary. The Vocaloid was named Nekomura Iroha and was released in Japanese. Chococat combines Plum Puddin' and Lime Chiffon from Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City for his character in Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures. Like the former, he is a smart person who makes machines. Like the latter, he is into detective work.