"凱蒂貓現象"

當年輕的三麗鷗設計師清水侑子上班時畫了一隻小貓咪時，她萬萬想不到這隻貓日後成了世界上最「卡哇伊」的角色──凱蒂貓。

這個角色初次亮相是在一款塑膠零錢包上，正面印著一隻白色小貓咪，上頭還有一行字寫著「Hello！」。多年來，她扮演過多種角色，有公主或是機器人（Robo Kitty）。但從未改變的是她可愛無邪的臉龐，以及頭上的紅色蝴蝶結。

凱蒂貓最初是為小女孩所設計，但當「卡哇伊」文化於1970年代，風行於青少年和成年人間時，三麗鷗很快地將凱蒂貓重新包裝，迅速成為日本流行文化歷史中的一大部分。

許多人會買凱蒂貓來追憶他們年少歲月；許多人買凱蒂貓是因為他們喜歡看著惹人憐愛的東西。不管理由為何，沒有人能否認說這隻小貓咪大受年輕孩童和永保赤子之心的人歡迎。

(Culture) Hello Kitty Phenomenon

When young Sanrio designer Yuko Shimizu drew a picture of a kitty at work, she never thought it would later become the most famous kawaii character in the world V Hello Kitty.

The character was first introduced on a vinyl coin purse with a picture of a white kitty in front with Hello! written on top. Over the years, she had adopted many personas like a princess or a robot (Robo Kitty). But what never changed was her cute and innocent face topped with a red ribbon.

Hello Kitty was originally created for little girls but when the kawaii culture became popular among Japanese teenagers and adults in the 1970s, Sanrio quickly repackaged Hello Kitty and it soon became a big part of Japanese pop culture history.

Many people buy Hello Kitty products to remember their youth; some buy them because they just like looking at adorable things. No matter what their reason might be, nobody can deny this kittens popularity among young children and those who are young at heart.

想聽語音請上FunDay