The geniuses of cute. Samnrio catch girls’ eyes.

Sanrio are the geniuses of cute. They have turned a few cute characters such as Hello Kitty into billion dollar businesses.

Sanrio started back in 1962 — their first product was rubber sandals with flowers painted on them. Things really took off in 1974 when Sanrio designer Yuko Shimizu created Hello Kitty. Kitty doesn't have a mouth — so you can project your emotions on to her. Sanrio helped to make Japan the cute culture it is today.

Sanrio sells and licenses products branded with these characters and has created over 400 characters, with the most successful and best known being Hello Kitty.

So, there are 400 characters. Can you name all of those? Impossible! You may know some of those. What is your favorite ones?