It’s possible to determine how long someone has been in Japan based on what I will now refer to as “The Hello Kitty Index”.

It’s a sliding scale based on apples. Apples because that’s how Hello Kitty‘s height and weight are measured so it seem fitting that it’s a measure for the Hello Kitty Index too.

For those that are new to Japan, it seems that Hello Kitty is everywhere (Hello Kitty spotting is one of my 974 things to love in Japan) and there’s an almost uncontrollable urge to photograph all the unusual products, outfits and situations that you find her in compared to how she seems to appear elsewhere in the world. Someone in this situation would receive a rating of 10 apples on the Hello Kitty Index.

She’s quite well travelled and pretty well-off too. Hello Kitty (and her twin sister Mimmy, though bizarrely, Mimmy was likely to have been created later) were born ‘born’ in Japan in 1975 to George and Mary and heading to the United States in 1976. While she was born in Japan, her creators (not George or Mary – how confusing is this?!) say she is British, chosenbecause being British was trendy in Japan at the time of her birth.

She earns about USD7 billion / year through some interesting merchandise (including computer products, jewellery and even a stratocaster guitar), a couple of theme parks, restaurants, maternity hospitals and cafes and a few other things too but it’s entertaining to find some of this out yourself.

As another piece of useless trivia, UNICEF have granted her the title of “Special Friend of the Children”. I don’t think Angelina Jolie has such an impressive title!

Back to the Index…

At the other end of the Index is someone that has been in Japan for a while (or has had considerable exposure through some other method); they don’t even look twice when someone is walking down the street wearing a large Hello Kitty head, wearing a suit, with bunches of flowers to give to his loved one. I have actually seen this as part of a marriage proposal in HK. I stopped and took photos…

A rating of 5 is someone that sees the umbrellas, face masks (the overnight moisturising ones), stationery and walks right by yet has a double-take when seeing an everyday item branded Hello Kitty that has never been seen before. To this end, toasters, kettles and waffle irons don’t count – they are everywhere.

So where do I fit after six months in Tokyo?

About a seven.

May depend on the number shown

* Thanks to Courtney Barnett for the title to this post. Number 46 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 last year.