Hello Kitty, introduced on a vinyl coin purse in 1974, became an instant phenomenon in Japan, and sales at Sanrio grew sevenfold in the cat’s first three years. But even then Sanrio’s founder and president, Shintaro Tsuji, expressed nervousness that consumers would burn out on the brand. Sanrio’s sales tapered off in the late 1970s, and then again in the mid-1990s when Japan entered a long economic slump.

1974年，Hello Kitty的形象最初出現在塑料錢包上，轉瞬之間就風靡全日本。面世的頭三年，Sanrio公司的銷售額增加了7倍。Sanrio的創始人兼主席辻信太郎（Shintaro Tsuji）當時就很擔心，怕消費者的熱情來也快去也快。70年代末，Sanrio的銷售額曾一度跌至低谷，而到了日本經濟衰退的90年代中期，其銷售額又再次下滑。

But around 2000, Kitty surprised Sanrio by rebounding in a big way, with Hollywood stars wearing the cat on T-shirts and carrying Hello Kitty bags.

但在2000年左右，Hello Kitty又出現了令Sanrio都感到意外的強勢反彈，當時好萊塢的明星也穿著Hello Kitty的T恤，用印著Hello Kitty的包。

“But when you have a boom, you have a bust,” said Mr. Shichijo, the professor. “People get sick of it. Now Sanrio’s in trouble.”

“但是，正所謂盛極必衰，”七丈教授說，“人們總會厭倦它的。現在的Sanrio就很困難了。”