Well Helloooooo Kitty!
This retired Japanese police officer has a gazillion Hello Kitty dolls and it’s not weird at all.
Masao Gunji is the new Guinness Book of World Records holder for the largest Hello Kitty collection. With 5,169 Hello Kitty items including plushies, toys, towels, and bento boxes, just to name a few, Gunji and his wife have spent 35 years and 30 million yen ($267,000) on their labor of “kitty” love. They even have a pink Hello Kitty house, dubbed The Pink Palace, to house their vast collection.
When asked about his motivation for his hobby, Gunji states: “The reason I like Hello Kitty is because of her expression; for some reason when I’m sad, she looks a bit sad as well, and when I am happy, she looks happy,” he explains. “Hello Kitty has always cheered me up when I was unhappy.”
I can’t think of a better way of expressing it, can you? Let’s just admit it — Hello Kitty makes everybody happy.
I must admit, as I was reading about Mr. Hello Kitty himself, I had a little fantasy bubble above my head — a picture of a stern, uniformed police officer bowing politely and handing me a traffic ticket with a tiny Hello Kitty watermark in the corner. And then a close-up of my face as it goes from frowny-face to happy-face!
Video credit: Kiwi in Munich
