Yuko Shimizu
Yuko Shimizu is a Japanese character designer who created the original Hello Kitty in 1974 while working at SanrioSanrioSanrio Company, Ltd. is a Tokyo-based Japanese character brand company founded by Shintaro Tsuji in 1960 as Yamanashi Silk Center, known for licensing and gifts built on characters such as Hello Kitty and for theme parks including Sanrio Puroland. After Tomokuni Tsuji became president in 2020, it shifted to a multi-character strategy and has repeatedly set record results.Open the full entry and later created characters such as Rebecca Bonbon.
Contents8 sections
Key facts
1969Graduates
Yuko Shimizu graduated from Musashino Art University in 1969 and then joined Sanrio.[1]
1974Creates Hello Kitty
She first sketched Hello Kitty on November 1, 1974.[2]
She recalled that the idea came from a white kitten her father gave her as a child: “Cuando era niña, mi padre me dio un pequeño gatito blanco como regalo de cumpleaños.”[3]
1975First Product and Leaving
The character was first printed on a small purse launched with six other character products; it outsold them, so the company developed it. She said she married at 27 and left the company a year later when pregnant.[3]
2005Rebecca Bonbon
Rebecca Bonbon, a bulldog character she designed, launched in Japan in 2005.[4]
April 2008International Licensing
September 8, 2019New Character in Guangzhou
On her first visit to Guangzhou she attended a global launch ceremony for her new character Lalala Coco, drawing many fans. She described the character as a girl with glasses and straight bangs who looks for cute things every day.[1]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Sanrio: Official website: https://corporate.sanrio.co.jp/ (opens in a new window)[6]
Sources
- ハローキティの「生みの親」が広州でイベントに参加--人民網日本語版--人民日報 (opens in a new window)
- Sanrio CEO on the Key to Hello Kitty’s 50 Years of Success (opens in a new window)
- “Me inspiré en mi gato de infancia para crear a Hello Kitty”: cómo una artista japonesa inventó hace 50 años el personaje que hoy vale más de US$80.000 millones (opens in a new window)
- Fremantle says hello doggy (opens in a new window)
- FME to Represent New Fashion Property from Hello Kitty Creator (opens in a new window)
- 企業情報サイト | 株式会社サンリオ (opens in a new window)