Culture | The queen of kawaii

Hello Kitty, still cute at 50

The face that launched a thousand products

A life-size Hello Kitty surrounded by smaller toys at the party for Hello Kitty's 45th birthday in the Mall of Berlin, Germany, November 14th 2019
More than a felinePhotograph: Avalon
|TOKYO

MOST HAVE to wait until their centenary to receive birthday wishes from the king of Britain. But King Charles III made an exception for “a self-made entrepreneur worth billions of dollars and a unicef children’s ambassador on top”. The monarch was feting a figure more recognisable than any billionaire or emissary: Hello Kitty, who turns 50 this year.

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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Still cute at 50”

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