Kitty At War: A Historical Perspective

According to some, Hello Kitty's militant roots go back much further than Sanrio's so-called introduction of the innoculous looking cat back in 1974. A little investigation turned up two very interesting facts about HK:

1) Her roots appear to be Chinese in origin, not Japanese;
2) She's appeared as early as WWII, and perhaps even earlier according to legend.

LEGEND. There's a fucking LEGEND of the Hello Kitty.

Think I shit you?

Now...I don't read Chinese, but supposedly all the real info can be found here.

For all of you other gwai-lo's, here's the story of the Hello Kitty as I found it:

It was a story about a Chinese general back in the 1700’s who had many wives. One of the daughters of one of the lesser wives was distraught over never being recognized in their house. She ended up committing suicide. Now, the rest of the house was very angry at this because they claimed the girls room was now haunted…as they would often hear the dead girls voice calling to them asking if they wanted to play. To calm everyones fears, the General had a doll made in the shape of a cat, I think for good luck, and insisted that it not be given a mouth. The doll was to replace the ghost and without a mouth would not be able to speak any more.

My co-worker told me that this information is not unknown…but I begged to differ, as no web site I visited mentioned anything like this. She then went to her computer and showed my numerous sites that made mention to it…but being in Chinese, I still had no proof. Then we saw this site! The two images that I am including are taken from a World War II display case in a Southern province in China. The medal is dated as 1940!!! And was warn by an American soldier who died fighting the Japanese. Interesting yes!!!. Hello Kitty seems to have an earlier history than Sanrio

So. A ghost kitty with no mouth, suddenly resurrected and reinvented as a cute child's companion, and so pervasive it's now appearing on military weapons.

I don't see Mickey Mouse on M-15's.

Where's Bugs Bunny on grenade launchers?

You don't see them, do you? Why? Because...they're not haunted!

Forget what I said about Sanrio having world domination aspirations...well, then again - don't forget. It's being run by a GHOST, dammit! A ghost who wants revenge!

Why else would it suddenly appear during WWII, then vanish...only to appear years later, in Japan of all places? Because it knew the Chinese didn't have the power yet...it needed a stronger weapon.

Japanese toy manufacturing, and the Japanese obsession with all things cutesy.

It's truly an insiduous ploy, almost sinister. Dr. Evil has nothing on this cat!

You laugh. But in another decade, when you see an American President's young daughter carrying a Hello Kitty doll to the stage to watch her father be sworn in...think back on this and remember.

It's now *that* closer to The Button.