please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message sanrio co. ltd. native name type public kk traded as tyo 8136 industry wholesale 1 video games founded august 10 1960 founder shintaro tsuji headquarters shinagawa tokyo japan key people shintaro tsuji president & ceo products fashion accessories gifts entertainment video games revenue 74 233 million fy2012 2 operating income 20 198 million fy2012 2 net income 12 536 million fy2012 2 total assets 97 425 million fy2012 2 total equity 48 982 million fy2012 2 number of employees 739 2015 3 divisions kokoro sanriowave website sanrio.com sanrio co. ltd. kabushikigaisha sanrio 4 is a japanese company that designs licenses and produces products focusing on the kawaii cute segment of japanese popular culture . their products include stationery school supplies gifts and accessories that are sold worldwide and at specialty brand retail stores in japan . sanrio s best known character is hello kitty aka kitty white a little anthropomorphic cat girl . 5 6 7 with her red bow and no visible mouth except in most of the animations she is one of the most successful marketing brands in the world . 8 besides selling character goods sanrio takes part in movie production and publishing . they own the rights to both the peanuts and mr. men characters in japan . their animatronics branch called kokoro company ltd. kokoro being japanese for heart is best known for the actroid android . they participate in the fast food industry running a franchise of kfc in saitama . contents 1 history 2 locations 3 characters 4 filmography 4.1 theatrical 4.2 tv animation 5 publishing 6 notes 7 further reading 8 external links history edit sanrio was founded by shintaro tsuji as the yamanashi silk company in 1960 using 1 million yen in capital . in 1962 tsuji expanded his enterprise from silk to rubber sandals with flowers painted on them . 9 tsuji noted the profits gained by simply adding a cute design to the sandals and hired cartoonists to design cute characters for his merchandise in response . 9 in 1973 the company was officially established under the name sanrio . the company s european website says the name comes from the spanish words san holy and r o river . 10 the book korega sanrio no himitsu desu or this is the sanrio company secret gives another origin of the name . 11 according to this book tsuji sanrio s founder said that yamanashi part of the company s former name has an alternative on yomi reading of sanri . the remaining o was added from the ou sound people make when they are excited . 11 the company produced a line of character merchandise around gift giving occasions . 10 hello kitty was added to the lineup of early sanrio characters in 1974 and the first related merchandise was released the following year . the popular feline whose mouth is usually invisible has had both peaks and drops in sales over the years but always has been the highest contributor to sanrio s sales . other notably popular characters through the years have been the little twin stars created by mr. tsuji himself my melody keroppi tuxedo sam badtz maru chococat cinnamoroll sugarbunnies jewelpet and wish me mell . sanrio constantly adds new characters to its lineup . specific characters are rotated in and out of active production . 12 for a short time osamu tezuka s baby unicorn character unico who starred in two feature length anime movies in the early 1980s was also part of the sanrio empire ; however the rights to unico shifted to osamu tezuka s own company after tezuka s death in 1989 . in late 2003 sanrio won the top brand with a conscience award from the medinge group of sweden for its communication principles . 13 the company has partnered with unicef since 1984 . in 2006 sanrio launched sanrio digital together with typhoon games to expand to the internet online games and mobile services . 2010 was sanrio s 50th anniversary . in conjuncture with this build a bear workshop released limited edition stuffed toys of several sanrio characters including hello kitty chococat my melody and keroppi . 14 hello kitty is alleged to be drawn in a similar style to the rabbit miffy . on august 26 2010 mercis bv representing miffy s creator dick bruna brought suit against sanrio with the claim that one of hello kitty s companion characters a rabbit named cathy infringes on the copyright and trademark of miffy . 15 on november 2 2010 a dutch court ruled against sanrio and ordered the company to stop marketing cathy products in belgium luxembourg and the netherlands . 15 16 17 following the march 11 2011 earthquake and tsunami in japan sanrio and mercis reached an out of court settlement on june 7 2011 for sanrio to halt production worldwide of merchandise that feature cathy . instead of continuing the court battle the two companies will donate the legal fees to help the earthquake victims . 18 19 in december 2011 sanrio global acquired the rights to the mr. men and little miss characters which includes the subsidiary mr men films ltd. in june 2016 it was announced that sanrio has partnered with loot crate inc on a bi monthly box . locations edit sanrio inc. headquarters in tokyo sanrio store in den en ch fu tokyo sanrio hosts two theme parks in japan sanrio puroland in tama tokyo and harmonyland 20 21 in hiji ita ky sh . sanrio inc. is sanrio s american subsidiary . sanrio inc. has offices in south san francisco california and torrance california . sanrio s first western hemisphere store opened in san jose s eastridge mall . in 2008 sanrio opened its high end boutique called sanrio luxe in new york city s times square . in the western hemisphere sanrio character branded products are sold in upwards of 12 000 locations including department specialty national chain stores and over 85 sanrio boutiques . in april 2010 the first and only sanrio licensed eatery sanrio cafe in the u.s. opened at pearlridge s downtown phase in aiea hawaii . in 2004 sanrio co. ltd. expanded its license to one of its major licensee and plush suppliers nakajima usa to include the owning and operating of all sanrio branded stores in the us overseeing the relationships between individual licensed stores and supplying all categories of products for the retail stores in the us and wholesale accounts . characters edit main article list of sanrio characters sanrio has created a large number of characters the best known of which is hello kitty . other well known characters include badtz maru chococat my melody and jewelpet . filmography edit theatrical edit from 1977 to 1985 sanrio produced movies through their sanrio films label . after a journey through fairyland sanrio switched gears and started doing short films oavs and tv shows based on their characters . in 2006 sanrio announced they are again going to do feature length films . little jumbo 1977 chiisana jumbo who are the debolts and where did they get nineteen kids 1977 with korty films and charles m. schulz inc. debolts wa daredesu ka soshite karera wa 19 no kodomo o doko de katta won academy award the mouse and his child 1977 oyaro nezumi no fushigina tabi or the wonderful journey of the mouse family with murakami wolf ringing bell 1978 chirin no suzu or bell of chirin the glacier fox 1978 kita kitsune monogatari or the story of the northern fox nutcracker fantasy 1979 kurumiwari ningyo or the nutcracker unico 1979 metamorphoses winds of change 1979 hoshi no orpheus or orpheus of the stars a tale of africa 1980 afurika monogatari 22 23 the fantastic adventures of unico 1981 with tezuka productions and madhouse studios the sea prince and the fire child 1981 sirius no densetsu or legend of sirius don t cry it s only thunder 1981 22 23 the ideon a contact 1982 with sunrise and shochiku the ideon be invoked 1982 with sunrise unico in the island of magic 1983 yuniko maho no shima he with tezuka productions oshin 1984 a journey through fairyland 1985 yosei florence or florence the fairy mouse story george and gerald s adventure 2007 nezumi monogatari george to gerald no bouken with madhouse studios cinnamoroll the movie 2007 with madhouse studios featuring the character cinnamoroll jewelpet the movie sweets dance princess 2012 with sega toys and studio comet onegai my melody y & ai 2012 with studio comet untitled hello kitty film 2019 24 tv animation edit sanrio also got involved into production of some tv animation during the late 1980s and early 1990s starting with the us made hello kitty s furry tale theater in 1987 . the character my melody got her first starring role in an animated series in the tv anime onegai my melody which first aired on tv osaka on april 3 2005 and was produced by studio comet . the sugarbunnies franchise was later adapted into a 7 minute short series in 2007 and was popular enough to gain two sequels . jewelpet was also adapted into an anime metaseries in 2009 which was also produced by studio comet spanning 6 official seasons and one theatrical movie making it the longest running anime adaptation of a sanrio franchise in history . show by rock a game by sanrio and geechs got an anime adaptation produced by bones in 2015 . hello kitty s furry tale theater 1987 dic entertainment hello kitty and friends 1993 flint the time detective 1998 group tac hello kitty s paradise 1999 hello kitty s stump village 2005 onegai my melody 2005 with studio comet u sa ha na dream ballerina 2006 asahi production hello kitty ringo no mori fantasy 2006 asahi production onegai my melody kurukuru shuffle 2006 studio comet sugarbunnies 2007 with asahi production onegai my melody sukkiri 2007 studio comet sugarbunnies chocolat 2008 asahi production onegai my melody kirara 2008 studio comet sugarbunnies fleur 2009 asahi production jewelpet 2009 studio comet jewelpet twinkle 2010 studio comet jewelpet sunshine 2011 studio comet jewelpet kira deco 2012 studio comet jewelpet happiness 2013 studio comet lady jewelpet 2014 zexcs show by rock 2015 bones 25 jewelpet magical change 2015 studio deen and tms entertainment rilu rilu fairilu yousei no door 2016 studio deen show by rock 2016 bones publishing edit sanrio publishes many books featuring its own characters . additionally they publish art books for instance those by keibun ta and other books . sanrio publishes books in many different languages including japanese and english . sanrio published video games in the early 1990s under the name character soft . notes edit http company.nikkei.co.jp gaiyo gaiyo.aspx scode 8136 a b c d e summary of financial results for the fiscal year ended march 31 2013 fy2012 pdf . sanrio co. ltd. may 15 2013 . retrieved march 30 2014 . company profile about sanrio sanrio . sanrio co. ltd. retrieved june 3 2016 . ashcroft brian . don t be silly hello kitty is a cat . retrieved 29 august 2014 . allen sarah . is hello kitty a cat sanrio doesn t know . retrieved 29 august 2014 . hello kitty isn t a cat we called sanrio to find out . retrieved 29 august 2014 . michael kanellos hello kitty s guide to business success a b belson k. 2003 . asia times online . the cat who turned kawaii into cash . retrieved may 19 2011 from http www.atimes.com atimes japan el13dh01.html a b sanrio europe . archived from the original on october 1 2009 . retrieved 2009 09 14 . a b 1979 . characters sanrio.com the medinge group brands with