Saturday, August 30, 2008

Hello Kitty Monstrosity of the Day: the Hello Kitty Postage Stamp Set

Click to enlarge. I know you want to see every terrifying detail.

Howdy, folks! We have a special bit of Hello Kittiana for you this time! The image above was sent to me from Kyoto by gentle reader and Japan correspondent, Rambin' Ronin (domo arigato!).

What you see is a current issue of Japanese postage stamps that features Hello Kitty and her friend Dear Daniel. Both are dressed in Heian period (794-1185) court dress as part of a larger celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the classic Japanese novel "Tale of the Genji."

I spend a lot of time bashing the ever-expanding, horrifically cute empire of Hello Kitty, but I have to hand it to the saccharine feline this time: the stamp set is a fascinating snapshot of old and new, classical culture and pop culture, literature and practical usage. It's almost . . . errr . . . quasi-awesome? I can't believe I just said that.

2 comments:

Michael Turton said...

My eyes! My eyes!

Anonymous said...

Oh, come on, Michael. You know you secretly wish the US postal service were half so awesome. ;-)