Hello Kitty is taking over the world. Didn't you know that? In all seriousness though, Asian girls love cute things. It started in Japan, and spread to nearby countries. Remember, women here are more girly, therefore they like more girly things. It's a huge market, not just Hello Kitty, but hair accessories, bracelets, dresses, high heels...the list goes on. As a girl, I completely understand. Hello Kitty isn't my favorite though. The only reason it hasn't happened in the West is because most women would be laughed at for having such cute things, me included. My family made fun of me for having a cute winter hat.

Chinese people have a thing for felines. You should've realized that when you saw the endless rows of those waving cat toy things in every market. 

Hello Kitty is actually kind of cool if you know its morbid beginnings.

In Japan (and other Asian countries) the cat is considered a sign of good luck.  The original story of how the mouthless cat came to be is this:

During world war 1 a Japanese naval officer had a mistress that he kept for many years.  Eventually the mistress got pregnant and gave birth to a mentally handicapped daughter.  As the daughter grew into a teenager she became more withdrawn and would spend days alone in her room with her favorite toy, a stuffed cat.

One day the mother got worried after not seeing her daughter for several days so she entered the girls room.  The girl had hung herself clutching her beloved stuffed cat.  The mother felt so guilty about what her neglect had caused that she too hung herself next to her daughter.

About a week later the Japanese naval officer came to visit his mistress and found the decaying bodies of the mother & daughter still hanging in the room.

By this time the villagers had suspected that something was wrong in the home and had started spreading al kinds of rumors about the girl, the mistress and the naval officer.  In an effort to keep the villagers quiet (so they wouldn't damage his career) the naval officer painted all the windows and black and put an image of a cats head without a mouth on all the doors.

The cat was a message that basically said, "If you want to be lucky and keep your head, you will not speak of what happened here."

Whether this story is true or not, I don't know.  But it was told to me by a senior VP at Sanrio (the company that owns Hello Kitty), so I am inclined to believe it is mostly true.

I always thought the waving cat came from Japan?

As a friend of mine told me once:

"What's not to like...it's 'Hello Kity!'"

I honestly dont know why this bothers people. The girls are happy and it hurts no one and considering that many come from poor homes with little or no luxuries a "Hello Kitty" can be an escape from what is for many a dull, ugly reality. For a few moments they can focus on something "cute"  and light hearted and bright.
I was reading in the Comments about this one teacher who takes away and destroys any hello kitty item her students bring and if they dress girly she fails them and send s them home to change.
Lets giive these girls a break!  Enjoy!

You'll never know!

Yes those are cute. But dressing hello kitty is certainly not my style

Good discussion. I enjoyed your views on girls.