Hello! Kitty, the mouth-less feline icon recognized the world over, has started greeting new fans in Taiwan right after their birth. The 30-bed Hau Sheng Hospital in Yuanlin, central Taiwan, has claimed to be the only maternity hospital in the world with authorization from the beloved cartoon cat’s Japanese parent company Sanrio Co, Ltd. Hau Sheng was built for T$100 million (US$3 milion) by Director Tsai Tsung-chi, who hopes the cuddly feline will help assuage the fears and difficulty of childbirth among its patients. Tsai expresses his hope that young mothers suffering from illness and birthing will smile and relax when they see the images of the adorable cat. He specifically chose Hello Kitty as the theme due to her popularity within his own family; namely, his mother, his wife and his daughter.

The four-story pink hospital was constructed back in 2006 in Tsai’s hometown of 126,000 residents. In the lobby, a statue of Hello Kitty in a doctor’s white coat greets visitors. Nurses in pink uniforms with cat-themed aprons walk about assisting patients, while entertainers in white cat costumes make appearances twice a year. The newborns are flooded with Hello Kitty decor, from the cot linen and receiving blankets to the room furnishings. Every dinner is served with Hello Kitty utensils. And you can be sure that every room, from the waiting room to the delivery suite, is filled with the Hello Kitty’s visage. To complete the all-too-cute experience, new parents are issued birth certificates with Hello Kitty printed at one corner. With all this cuteness, Taiwanese dads can only pray that their sons survive their first days on this earth with their masculinity intact. And can Hello Kitty home pregnancy test kits be far behind?

Hello Kitty is the most profitable brand of Sanrio Co, Ltd. and is a beloved fictional character in Japan and other countries. Created back in 1974 by Shintaro Tsuji, she is portrayed as five apples tall and three apples in weight (not a believer in the Metric system, I suppose), with a white head that is bigger than her body, and button eyes and nose but no visible mouth (because, it is said, she speaks from the heart.) Hello Kitty lives with an extended family and lots of friends, such as My Melody and Little Twin Stars, who also have their own line of products. Considered as the epitome of cute, Hello Kitty helps sell a wide array of merchandise, from toys and bags to apparel, video games and anime. Even non-kids items like thongs and tampons are sold with the famous feline’s stamp of approval. International celebrities like Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and Gwen Stefani sport likenesses of the adorable white cat in their appearances. She even has the distinction of receiving the exclusive title of UNICEF Special Friend of Children as well as being selected in 2008 as Japanese tourism’s ambassador to China and Hong Kong.

Sanrio has a lot to thank Hello Kitty for its continuing success. Starting out as a gift supplies company, it eventually became the biggest greeting card supplier in Japan and has become a major player in other industries as well. Sanrio even operates two theme parks in Japan: Sanrio Puroland in Tama, Tokyo (where at least 5 couples get married each year), and Harmonyland in Hiji, Oita, Kyushu. Sanrio (a combination of Spanish and Japanese words which means “three rivers”) continues to release new characters each year and retires other characters from the roster at the same time, though Hello Kitty still remains its biggest revenue source. And to address working women who grew up with their product, the company has released high-end fashion accessories with the cat logo emblazoned on the material.

Other Asian countries besides Taiwan and Japan have gotten into the Hello Kitty lifestyle. In Macau, there is a Hello Kitty Macau Tower Secret House where visitors can explore the cat’s pink living room, follow clues to various secrets, frolic with interactive displays, and meet the famous resident up close. In Singapore back in 2000, arguments, fights and injuries arose when the McDonalds fast-food chain released limited-edition Hello Kitty collectible toys, as frenzied fans almost broke into full-blown riots to purchase the coveted items. Eight years later, the cat mania turned much less violent during the Lantern Fantasy at the Chinese Garden, when Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters floats were on parade, participating in various sporting events such as motorcar racing, sailing, and speedboat racing.

Hau Sheng Hospital isn’t the first Taiwanese company to adopt Hello Kitty as their mascot. In 2005, Eva Airlines introduced EvaKitty!, a Hello Kitty-themed Airbus 330-200 with pink-uniformed flight attendants and Sanrio characters all over the plane, from seats to cutlery.  Even passengers using the online reservation website is greeted with the cutesy cat. EvaKitty! serves air travelers between Taipei to Fukuoka and Tokyo in Japan and Hong Kong. To board, passengers must pass through the special Hello Kitty airport lounge in Taoyuan International airport. There is also a Hello Kitty ferris wheel atop the Dream Mall in Kaohsiung, as well as the Hello Kitty suites and Hello Kitty rooms inside the Grand Hi-Lai Hotel. Amenities for these special rooms are available to the public at the Hello Kitty House at the hotel’s lobby.

Now excuse me, for just writing this article makes me want to say Goodbye Forever Kitty. I only hesitate to do something drastic because I might be buried in a Hello Kitty cats-ket without my knowledge. Or how about my ashes collected in a Hello Kitty purrrrn?

Get meowt of here!

Posted in Airlines, Attractions, Japan, Taiwan

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Airlines, Attractions, Japan, Taiwan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.