[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-135561-en":3,"doc-seo-135561-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},135561,1099523882367,"Jordan Avery","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc",2,"Literature","Has ‘Hello Kitty’ Shaped Taiwanese Society?","The essay argues that modern Taiwanese identity and cultural expression have been rapidly shaped by Hello Kitty and kawaii culture. Using an anonymous online survey supported by outreach to teachers, interviews with four elderly residents, and 40 total responses from participants, it connects consumer behavior to broader social change. Historical context traces Hello Kitty’s rise from early boutique presence to mass merchandising and media controversies, then links her commercial reach to convenience stores, themed attractions, and night-market visibility, reinforced by evidence of merchandise-focused impacts.","Has ‘Hello Kitty’ Shaped Taiwanese Society?  \nCrazes in pop culture are nothing new, in the west one only has to look at things like Beatle-mania or the craze surrounding Disney’s Frozen to see similar examples. Yet these crazes haven’t been able to capture quite as many demographics and aspects of society with such a lasting impact as Hello Kitty has in Taiwan. Simply put, Hello Kitty is everywhere in Taiwan. In this essay I will argue that the liminal space that modern Taiwanese society finds itself in has left Taiwanese culture and the people who consume it to rapidly craft an identity and Hello Kitty’s mouthless, blank palette has filled this identity void. Hello Kitty and the kawaii culture she figureheads has shaped many different aspects of Taiwanese society, from the political realm to the commercial realm, all of which is underpinned by the idea that she has shaped ideological spheres.  \nTo help garner a wide range of different views on Hello Kitty, I created a simple anonymous online survey and provided my contact details if any of the participants wanted to chat further. I sent this to my teachers at the Mandarin Training Centre, and interviewed 4 elderly people that live in my apartment block using the same questions in order to get views from slightly older people. The majority of the responses however came from a poster which was put up on the main campus of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) encouraging people to scan a QR code and complete the survey. Altogether, I received responses from 40 participants, among who 31 were female, 8 were male and 1 was non-binary.  \nFigure 1 The poster that was hung in NTNUto advertise my survey. Taken on 9/5/22  \nThe story of Hello Kitty is a story of Japan, kawaii culture and Taiwan’s rapid societal changes. Hello Kitty was created by Japanese merchandising company Sanrio in 1974 asa character to put on their line of products aimed at young girls such as school supplies and toothbrushes as part ofa growing trend for cuteness or ‘kawaii’ culture. At first, Hello Kitty products could only be found in a few boutiques in Taiwan but Taiwan’s improving  \neconomic conditions in the 1980s made her into a more affordable product, and by the 1990s counterfeit products could be found in night markets and street vendors all across Taiwan (Ko 2003:175) . By the end of the decade, Hello Kitty had firmly cemented herself as a cultural icon as evidenced by the fights that broke out over a McDonalds promotion offering a Hello Kitty stuffed toy with any meal purchase over 99 New Taiwan Dollars and the media sensation that this ignited (Lee 1999:56) . She was the third most popular figure in Taiwan in 1999 according to a poll by Chinese Television Network, beating many celebrities (Ko 2003:176) .  \nThe story of Hello Kitty’s McDonalds media frenzy is a telling sign of the kind of merchandising power that Hello Kitty has in Taiwan and thus on a very material level, it’s undeniable that Hello Kitty has shaped Taiwanese society through her commercial success. Taiwan’s most popular convenience store chain 711 will sporadically convert some of their stores around Taiwan into Hello Kitty pop up stores complete with Hello Kitty furnishings and merchandise. In 2016, the world’s first Hello Kitty themed train took off in Taiwan (The Economist 2016) . Taiwan’s travel card system‘Easycard’ sells a number of different Hello Kitty themed cards. Most strikingly  \nthough is the number of Hello Kitty themed items found in night markets, clothes stores, high end department stores, vehicle stores and fast food chains (see appendix for a small collection of photos). 31 of the survey’s participants mentioned Hello Kitty’s merchandise when asked about Hello Kitty’s impact on Taiwanese society. On the most fundamental level, Hello Kitty has therefore shaped Taiwanese society in so much as she created her own culture of buying Hello Kitty merchandise and products, driving consumers to her.  \nOf course, Hello Ki","cbCaiheKMc5Jb4bV","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiheKMc5Jb4bV","pdf",647536,1,9,"English","en",105,"# Has ‘Hello Kitty’ Shaped Taiwanese Society?\n## Pop culture impact and societal identity\n## Survey design and participant responses\n## Historical rise in Taiwan\n## Commercial power and everyday visibility\n## Kawaii culture appropriation across politics and commerce","[{\"question\":\"How does the essay explain Hello Kitty’s role in Taiwanese identity?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that Taiwan’s modern “liminal space” drives people to craft identity quickly, and Hello Kitty’s blank, mouthless style fills an identity void. Her presence links cultural consumption to the formation of ideological and social spheres.\"},{\"question\":\"What research method does the author use to gather views on Hello Kitty?\",\"answer\":\"The author created an anonymous online survey, shared contact details for follow-up, sent it to teachers, and interviewed four elderly residents using the same questions. Additional responses were collected from a campus poster encouraging QR code scanning.\"},{\"question\":\"Which examples does the essay use to show Hello Kitty’s commercial influence in Taiwan?\",\"answer\":\"It cites Hello Kitty pop-up conversions by convenience stores, a Hello Kitty themed train launch, themed Easycard offerings, and frequent appearance of themed items in night markets, clothing shops, department stores, vehicle stores, and fast-food chains.\"}]","Has ‘Hello Kitty’ Shaped Taiwanese Society? | PDF",1787314593,14,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":28},"has-hello-kitty-shaped-taiwanese-society","",{"@graph":36,"@context":84},[37,53,67],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/has-hello-kitty-shaped-taiwanese-society/135561/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-21",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"How does the essay explain Hello Kitty’s role in Taiwanese identity?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"It argues that Taiwan’s modern “liminal space” drives people to craft identity quickly, and Hello Kitty’s blank, mouthless style fills an identity void. Her presence links cultural consumption to the formation of ideological and social spheres.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"What research method does the author use to gather views on Hello Kitty?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"The author created an anonymous online survey, shared contact details for follow-up, sent it to teachers, and interviewed four elderly residents using the same questions. Additional responses were collected from a campus poster encouraging QR code scanning.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"Which examples does the essay use to show Hello Kitty’s commercial influence in Taiwan?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"It cites Hello Kitty pop-up conversions by convenience stores, a Hello Kitty themed train launch, themed Easycard offerings, and frequent appearance of themed items in night markets, clothing shops, department stores, vehicle stores, and fast-food chains.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,96,99,103,108,113,118,123,127,130,134],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":129},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":131,"slug":133},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":137},19,"General","general"]