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Apr 01 2013 11 Comments

Subverted Hello Kitty street art

Sanrio is perhaps Japan’s largest purveyor of ‘cuteness’, with its Hello Kitty character undoubtedly one of the most identifiable brands there is, both domestically and abroad. A design that as such adorns a truly mind boggling array of merchandise and goods. All of it snapped up by an equally diverse, but similarly devoted, public.

So with this in mind, it’s especially nice to see it subtly subverted — the famously mouthless cat giving a voice of sorts to the millions who don’t have one.

Japanese Hello Kitty urban or street art

Categorized: Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jan says

    4/1/2013 at 10:14 pm

    Very very cool. I like it! Where is it?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/2/2013 at 12:16 am

      I was impressed with it too. It also came as a total surprise. Not at all what I was expecting.

      It’s in Harajuku. A few minutes or so past Takeshita Dori heading away from the station.

      Reply
  2. Willy says

    4/2/2013 at 9:21 am

    A sort of ode to sanitisation.. very poignant..

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/2/2013 at 12:24 pm

      Yes, I suppose it is. Hadn’t looked at it in that way.

      Reply
  3. Hans ter Horst says

    4/2/2013 at 2:30 pm

    I like the way you have put the guy in the shot, really gives the steet art scope and power!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/2/2013 at 5:17 pm

      Thank you! I waited a while for somebody to walk by, so glad it was worth it. Without anybody there I felt the scale of the artwork wasn’t quite so obvious. I also wanted him/her staring at the camera too, which I got — sort of.

      Reply
  4. Christine Y says

    4/8/2013 at 9:32 am

    I love all your pictures. I love Japan & have been there so many times. Most of the photographs you take, the locations are familiar to me, & makes me miss that country even more. If I can’t go & visit, I have your amazing photos to bring me back!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      4/8/2013 at 11:37 am

      Thank you. That’s very kind of you to say so.

      Reply
  5. Bruno andrade says

    5/28/2013 at 10:16 pm

    Hey, i am from portugal and i am doing a history of art work about tokyo, and i love this pic, do you know the artist who painted it? Was it bansky? And can i use this photo, and your name? Thanks

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/28/2013 at 10:31 pm

      Nah, not Banksy. It was the Norwegian artist, Dolk.

      Depends what the project is really, and whether it’s commercial or not. Get in touch via the contact please and we can talk about it.

      Reply
  6. Rohan Gillett says

    11/19/2020 at 10:25 pm

    Very sorry to relay this news, but the building upon which that mural was painted has been demolished. I was hoping to get some new pics of it today, but all I saw was an empty block. Such is life …

    Reply

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