Sanrio was founded by Shintaro Tsuji 60 years ago. The company began as Yasmanashi Silk Company making silk products, and in 1962 moved to rubber sandals with flowers. With Tsuji realising that people wanted cute items, Sanrio was officially born in 1973, with Hello Kitty introduced the following year.
Sanrio created characters and plastered them on accessories and stationary and everyone just fell in love. In the years since, they’ve expanded into apparel, television, film, video games and books.
Sanrio licence their characters to other companies which has results in collaborations with brands such as Vans, MAC, and Mattel (Barbie). Additionally, Sanrio is the Japanese licence holder for Peanuts merchandise, and since 2011 has held the rights for Mr. Men and Little Miss characters.
When it comes to kawaii tattoos, look no further than anything Sanrio. As creators of some of the world’s cutest characters, the artists featured in these lists have certainly managed to replicate that cuteness in tattoo form.
We’ve so far covered ten Sanrio characters, and we have more to be published later this year. It probably won’t be all 400, but we’ll do our best to continue track down the best Sanrio tattoos.
Top 20 Hello Kitty Tattoos
Bold and sparkly Hello Kitty tattoo by @keelyglitters