Sanrio

Sanrio Company, Ltd. (株式会社サンリオ, Kabushikigaisha Sanrio) is a Japanese company that designs, licenses and produces products focusing on the kawaii ("cute") segment of Japanese popular culture. Its products include stationery, school supplies, video games, fashion accessories and gadgets that are sold worldwide. Sanrio has created a large number of characters, the best known of which is Hello Kitty, born in 1974, one of the most successful marketing brands in the world. Other well known characters are The Little Twin Stars, My Melody, Badtz-Maru, Keroppi, Chococat, Kuromi and Aggretsuko. Besides selling character goods, Sanrio takes part in movie and TV production and in publishing.
It also hosts two theme parks in Japan.