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The queen of kawaii
卡哇伊女王
Still cute at 50
50歲也可愛依舊
Hello Kitty, the face that launched a thousand products.
凱蒂貓：衍生了上千種產品的臉龐。
Most have to wait until their centenary to receive birthday wishes from the king of Britain.
大多數人必須等到自己的百年生辰才能收到英國國王的生日祝福。
But King Charles III made an exception for “a self-made entrepreneur worth billions of dollars and a UNICEF children’s ambassador on top”.
但查爾斯三世國王為“一位白手起家、身價數十億美元的企業家兼聯合國兒童基金會兒童大使”破了例。
The monarch was feting a figure more recognisable than any billionaire or emissary: Hello Kitty, who turns 50 this year.
國王正在公開盛贊一個比任何億萬富翁或外交使節都更知名的人物：今年滿50歲的凱蒂貓。
The character was created by Shimizu Yuko, a Japanese illustrator, on November 1st 1974.
這個形象是由日本插畫師清水侑子于1974年11月1日創作的。
Soon after, Kitty was appearing on an astounding array of trinkets.
不久后，凱蒂出現在了多得令人驚訝的一系列小飾品上。
Today you can wear her face on your hands, with OPI fake nails, or your feet, in the form of Adidas trainers.
現在你可以用OPI穿戴甲把她的臉戴在手上，也可以用阿迪達斯運動鞋的形式把她穿在腳上。
You can wash yourself in a Hello Kitty shower and dry yourself with a Hello Kitty towel.
你可以在一個凱蒂貓淋浴間里洗澡，然后用一條凱蒂貓毛巾擦干身體。
Sanrio, the company which owns the character, makes almost $4bn in sales annually.
擁有該形象的公司三麗鷗每年的銷售額幾乎達到40億美元。
Kitty’s popularity is emblematic of the global craze for cute things.
凱蒂貓的受歡迎象征了全球對可愛事物的狂熱。
In Japan the phenomenon, known as kawaii, dates back to at least the 17th century, when artists started producing miniatures and paintings of animals.
在日本，這種被稱為“卡哇伊”的現象至少可以追溯到17世紀，當時的藝術家開始創作動物的微縮雕像和繪畫。
Despite the name, whiskers and pointy ears, Kitty is supposedly not a cat, but a little girl who lives in the suburbs of London with her family.
盡管名字叫凱蒂貓，還有胡須和尖尖的耳朵，但據說凱蒂并不是一只貓，而是一個和家人住在倫敦郊區的小女孩。
Kawaii implies vulnerability and dependency, yet there is a sense of asobi—playfulness—to the way Kitty looks.
可愛暗示著脆弱和依賴性，然而凱蒂的外表中卻有一種游戲般的感覺。
Her charm lies in her expressionless face: she is composed of just three circles, six lines and a red bow, notes Joshua Paul Dale, a specialist in Cute Studies at Chuo University in Tokyo.
東京中央大學可愛研究專家約書亞·保羅·戴爾指出，她的魅力在于她那張毫無表情的臉：僅由三個圓圈、六條線和一個紅色蝴蝶結組成。
The simplicity of the design makes it easy to reproduce on all manner of items.
這種設計的簡潔性使人們很容易將她復現在各種物品上。
Unlike Mickey Mouse, Kitty’s look has not had to be updated.
與米老鼠不同，凱蒂貓的形象無需更新。
Kitty was born in the right place, at the right time.
凱蒂在正確的時間出生在正確的地方。
Kato Norihiro, a cultural critic, has argued that she reflects the aftermath of the second world war.
文化評論家加藤則宏認為凱蒂貓反映了第二次世界大戰之后的世界。
With no meaningful back story, Kitty represented the mood in Japan and “the impulse to escape history and to stop talking about it”.
凱蒂貓沒有什么意義深遠的背景故事，而是代表了日本的情緒，以及“逃避歷史、停止談論歷史的沖動”。
She emerged as “the perfect post-war icon”, agrees Roland Kelts of Waseda University.
早稻田大學的羅蘭·凱爾特斯表示，凱蒂貓作為“完美的戰后偶像”而出現。
“Japan’s warrior nation was shoved under the rug and the message to Japan was: ‘Shhh, look cute and beautiful’.”
“日本的武士國家被掩蓋起來，傳達給日本的信息是：‘噓，要看起來漂亮可愛。’”
She also coincided with a changing social and economic landscape.
凱蒂貓也與發生變化的社會和經濟格局同時出現。
In the 1970s women joined the workforce in greater numbers; they earned money and spent it on cute items for themselves.
在20世紀70年代，女性大量加入勞動力大軍，她們掙錢，并把錢花在給自己買可愛物品上。
Yet even when Japan’s economy faltered in the 1990s, Kitty remained popular.
然而，即使在20世紀90年代日本經濟衰退時，凱蒂貓仍然很受歡迎。
When the mood is sour, sweet things are even more desirable.
當心情酸澀時，甜美的東西就更加令人向往。
You “want to retreat into that fluffiness”, says Christine Yano, an anthropologist and the author of a book on Kitty’s omnipresence.
克里斯汀·矢野說，你“想要躲進那種毛茸茸的東西里”。矢野是一位人類學家，也寫了一本關于凱蒂貓無處不在的書。
(Studies have shown that looking at cute things can reduce stress and improve your mood.)
（研究表明，看可愛的東西可以減輕壓力并讓心情變好。）
The character went global towards the turn of the 20th century, as Japan became an increasing source of fascination and inspiration in the West.
隨著日本在西方日益變成了吸引力和靈感的一個源泉，凱蒂貓在20世紀初走向全球。
Demand for anime films and manga comic books grew.
對動漫電影和漫畫書的需求也增長了。
In 2013 the Japanese government, seeking to capitalise on this cool status, introduced a policy to promote the country’s culture abroad.
2013年，日本政府試圖利用這種潮流地位，并推出了一項政策，要在國外推廣日本文化。
Hello Kitty has been such a hit that other firms are trying to replicate her success.
凱蒂貓如此受歡迎，以至于其他公司都在試圖復制她的成功。
Chinese companies are investing in new cartoons; Sanrio, too, frequently puts out more characters.
中國公司正在投資新的卡通形象，三麗鷗也在頻繁地推出更多的角色。
Since 2017 Cinnamoroll, a dog with a curly tail, has often ranked top of Sanrio’s annual survey of its most popular characters.
自2017年以來，玉桂狗（有卷曲尾巴的小狗）經常在三麗鷗年度最受歡迎角色調查中名列前茅。
As new characters come and go, Hello Kitty wears the same inscrutable expression.
新角色來來去去，凱蒂貓則永遠保持著那副神秘莫測的表情。
