Sanrio and Characters

Written by: Natalie Yao

We have all heard of Hello Kitty, a small white cat with a red bow and no mouth, but did you also know that the company that made it has many more adorable characters? Sanrio is the Japanese company that created all of them, and they were founded in 1960, when they adopted a cute approach to its products. Their first character was Hello Kitty, which was first introduced in 1974. The company also produces gift products and works with other global companies to make merchandise, in order to carry out their “small gift, big smile” motto. 

After Hello Kitty, the Little Twin Stars, Kiki and Lala, were introduced in 1975. They are stars that have travelled to Earth to see how to be shinier. Another character from the 1970s that is still popular today is My Melody. She is a rabbit with a pink hood and is known for being optimistic and likes baking. One interesting fact about My Melody is that she was supposed to be a version of Little Red Riding Hood. 

Another fun character is Keroppi, whose full name is Kerokerokeroppi Hasunoue, is a cheerful frog that was designed to celebrate the rainy season. He is part of a set of triplets, and his siblings are his sister Pikki and his brother Koroppi. 

Introduced in 1989, Pochacco is a sporty white beagle dog. In fact, Pochacco was originally based off of the Peanuts character Snoopy as a dedication. He is known for loving food, and his favorite one is banana ice cream. 

Another Sanrio dog is Pompompurin, who is a laid back golden retriever. He is known for his brown beret and his custard colored fur. In fact, the purin in his name is actually the Japanese word for custard. His favorite food is his mom’s cream caramel pudding. 

One of the most popular Sanrio characters is Cinnamoroll, who gets his name from his tail that is curled like a cinnamon roll. He is a friendly white puppy who has very floppy ears, and actually uses them to fly. 

Compared to all the other characters, Gudetama was introduced relatively recently, in 2013. Gudetama is a cute but lazy egg, and comes in many forms such as hard-boiled, omelette, or as custard. He gets his name from the Japanese word for lazy, gudegude, and the word for egg, which is tamago.