Kitty mounts global offensive

Hello Kitty-Japan's most famous feline-is rediscovering its cultural roots.

Upcoming products include digital cameras shaped like a cat's head to stationery featuring the bubble-headed mascot in Kabuki outfits, all part of a bid to emphasize the mascot's "Japanese-ness", says Sanrio Co, which makes Hello Kitty products and licenses her image.

The mascot queen of cute, already proving popular with Americans, including Mariah Carey and Britney Spears, is now winning acclaim in relatively new markets like Russia, China and India, according to Sanrio., which recorded nearly 94 billion yen ($870 million) in annual sales.

Much of the growth is coming from abroad and tourist sales in Japan, the company said in showing its new products to media yesterday. Overseas sales now account for about a quarter of Sanrio's profits, up from 15 percent three years ago.

Hello Kitty, now 34 years old, has always catered to regional tastes - posing as the Statue of Liberty as a souvenir figure for New Yorkers and getting a tan for products in Hawaiian stores.