Hello Kitty is a Japanese character of a cat made in 1974 by a Japanese design company named Sanrio. The character has a large head with, usually, a red bow between her ears with no mouth. Sanrio said that she was not given a mouth because she speaks from the heart instead of speaking one particular language. Hello Kitty is known all over the world.

Hello Kitty became very popular with young school-girls during the 1980s. In the 1990s the firm made more products with the picture of the cat which would appeal to teenagers and young women. During the later part of the first decade of the 21st century, Hello Kitty began targeting boys and young men with Hello Kitty for Boys. The character uses darker colours and a dark bow when it is targeted to males.

Hello Kitty has become very successful. The character's picture is on over fifty thousand products sold in 60 countries. Sanrio’s theme park Puroland opened in 1990. It is visited by more than 1.5 million visitors each year. Hello Kitty has been an animated character, such as in Hello Kitty’s Furry Tale Theatre, shown on United States television during 1987 and 1991.

Famous stars such as Mariah Carey and Britney Spears were photographed with products which had her picture. Hello Kitty is an example of a Japanese kawaii (cute in English) character.