YOSHIKITTY SELECTED TO COMPETE AGAINST HELLO KITTY IN GLOBAL SANRIO CHARACTER RANKING FOR NINTH STRAIGHT YEAR

 LOS ANGELES, April 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- yoshikitty has been selected to compete against Hello Kitty in Sanrio's global voting competition for the ninth straight year. yoshikitty is the first Sanrio character to be modeled after a real person, YOSHIKI – leader of the rock bands X JAPAN and THE LAST ROCKSTARS.

Voting runs from April 11 at 11:00am JST through May 26 at 5:00pm JST. Fans can support their favorite character by voting every day from all their devices and through purchases at Sanrio stores in Japan.
https://ranking.sanrio.co.jp/en/characters/yoshikitty/

yoshikitty has been nominated in the Sanrio Character Ranking every year since 2015 and was voted more popular worldwide than Hello Kitty in 2018 among over 450 different characters. In regional voting, yoshikitty has been ranked #1 in Brazil, China, France, Germany, and Thailand.

YOSHIKI said, "I'm so moved by how strongly yoshikitty has been embraced by fans all over the world. I hope yoshikitty can keep inspiring others."

Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi – who also designed yoshikitty – explains the true story of yoshikitty's origin in a new YouTube video from the Blu-ray release of We Are X, the award-winning documentary film about YOSHIKI and his band X Japan.

WATCH: Hello Kitty Designer Yuko Yamaguchi Reveals the True Story of yoshikitty
https://youtu.be/BIYNaNMSzNY

WATCH: yoshikitty at Evening/Breakfast with YOSHIKI 2023
https://youtu.be/5J2RQyJ2kO8

YOSHIKI will visit Sanrio Puroland with yoshikitty on April 11 at 9:00pm JST for a special broadcast of Yoshiki Channel, which can be viewed worldwide on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/live/0ZUvrGOxDck

Sanrio is the world's largest entertainment company focusing exclusively on "kawaii" (cute) merchandise from Japanese popular culture. With over 450 popular characters, Sanrio's global media and retail network includes theme parks, stores, television, film, and mobile games.

38th Annual Sanrio Character Ranking
Voting period: April 11 (Tue.) to May 26 (Fri.)
*Start: 11:00 on April 11 (Tue.)
*End: 17:00 on May 26 (Fri.)

Announcements:
*1st Day results (1st to 10th place): April 13 (Thu.) 13:00
*"Sanrio+" member-only announcement (1st to 20th place): April 28 (Fri.) appx. 12:00
*Interim announcement (1st to 20th place): May 11 (Thu.) 13:00
*Results announcement (1st to 90th place) June 11 (Sun.) TBD

All times JST; subject to change.

YOSHIKI Official Website: https://www.yoshiki.net/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoshikiofficial/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/yoshiki

yoshikitty Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoshikitty_official 
yoshikitty Twitter: https://twitter.com/yoshikitty 
yoshikitty Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YoshikittyOfficial

SOURCE YOSHIKI