Hello Kitty任日本旅遊形象大使
Japan's ubiquitous ambassador of cute Hello Kitty has built up an impressive resume over the years. Global marketing phenom. Fashion diva. Pop culture icon. Now the moonfaced feline can add "government envoy" to the list.
The tourism ministry on Monday named Hello Kitty as its choice to represent the country in China mainland and Hong Kong, two places where she is wildly popular among kids and young women.
Officials hope that tapping into that fan base will lead to a bigger flow of tourists into Japan, and closer toward their goal of attracting 10 million overseas visitors every year under the "Visit Japan" campaign.
Last year the number of foreign tourists traveling to Japan hit a record high of 8.35 million, up 60 percent since the government began the marketing effort in 2003.
Arrivals from China mainland and Hong Kong, who accounted for 16.5 percent of visitors to Japan last year, are poised this year to become the second-largest group of tourists after South Koreans.
At a press conference, Sanrio Co. President Shintaro Tsuji called Hello Kitty's new appointment "an honor" and pledged to "work hard to attract many visitors."
Japan's other goodwill tourism ambassadors include Korean singer Younha, Japanese actress Yoshino Kimura and Japanese pop/rock duo Puffy AmiYumi.
Although this is the first time the tourism ministry has tapped a fictional character for the role, the foreign ministry in March inaugurated blue robo-cat Doraemon as Japan's "anime ambassador."
Designed in 1974 by Sanrio, Hello Kitty first appeared on a plastic coin purse. Her image today has become one of the most powerful brands in the world, adorning some 50,000 products in 60 countries.
According to her official profile from Sanrio, Hello Kitty lives with her family in London. It does not mention how often she visits Japan.
日本廣爲人知的可愛卡通形象Hello Kitty多年來以各種角色給人們留下了深刻的印象，如“全球營銷人才”、“時尚達人”及“流行文化代表”等。如今，這隻圓臉貓咪又多了一個“政府使節”的新角色。
日本旅遊省於本週一任命Hello Kitty爲日本在中國大陸和香港地區的形象大使，Kitty貓在這兩地的青少年和年輕女性中很受歡迎。
政府官員希望通過此舉吸引更多人去日本旅遊，以達到“遊覽日本計劃”所制定的每年吸引一千萬外國遊客赴日旅遊的目標。
去年，赴日旅遊的外國遊客數量創歷史新高，達到835萬，比2003年日本政府剛推出旅遊宣傳計劃時增加了60%。
在去年赴日旅遊的遊客中，中國大陸和香港地區的遊客佔16.5%，預計今年它們能成爲僅次於韓國的第二大客源地。
三麗歐公司總裁信太郎在一個新聞發佈會上說，Hello Kitty被賦予的新使命是她的一個“榮譽”，並表示會“努力吸引更多遊客來日本旅遊”。
日本其他幾位“旅遊親善大使”包括韓國歌手尹河、日本女演員木村佳乃和日本流行搖滾組合帕菲亞美由美。
這是日本旅遊省首次啓用一個虛擬形象擔任旅遊形象大使，不過，日本外務省在三月份剛剛任命機器貓“哆啦A夢”爲日本的“動漫大使”。
Hello Kitty卡通形象是三麗歐公司於1974年設計的，它的首次亮相是在一個塑料零錢包上。如今，Hello Kitty已成爲全世界最具影響力的品牌之一，被用於60個國家約5萬多種產品的裝飾。
據三麗歐公司提供的官方資料，目前Hello Kitty和她的家族居住在倫敦。但其中沒提到她多久去一次日本。
