“Untamed Kitty”: Misbehaving Hello Kitty Meme Spreads from China to Japan

A new meme in China featuring beloved Sanrio character Hello Kitty has also caught fire — and sparked debate — in Japan.

By Jay Andrew Allen

A meme surrounding one of the world’s most beloved Japanese characters that started in China has caught people’s attention in Japan. In particular, the meme’s anti-work vibes seem to resonate with overworked and underpaid Japanese office workers.

The “Untamed” or “Wild” Kitty (破天荒キティ; hatenkou kiti) trend uses what appears to be AI-generated images of Sanrio’s hallmark character, who’s ringing in her 50th birthday this year. However, rather than showing the sweet, angelic princess that most know and love, Kitty-chan is depicted committing various acts of mischief, such as arson and property destruction.

The images bear watermarks noting that they come from the Chinese service Xiaohongshu (“Little Red Book”), a.k.a. RED, REDnote, or XHS. Hello Kitty is extremely popular in China, with her fame there akin to that of Barbie in the West. She served as the Japanese “tourism ambassador” for China and Hong Kong in 2008 — the first time a…