Hello Kitty isn't just for little Japanese girls anymore.

In the past several years, I've seen hipsters and teenyboppers donning this little bow-tied cat in ways I hadn't seen before. These run the gamut from hipster glasses to blinged-out Swarovski jewelry and watches. But Hello Kitty and I go way back—back to my high school days in Southern California, when I worked part-time at a Hello Kitty store.

It was the go-to store for girls of all ages with a fondness for everything kawaii. My co-worker and close high school friend were always just short of being embarrassed about our jobs and our association with the overwhelmingly kawaii merchandise.

Mostly we hung out in the store talking about boys. I had little idea then that I would move to Japan in the next few years and begin re-discovering parts of me I'd buried up until that point. I also didn't know how much this little mouth-less icon represented the dynamics of love and relationships in Japan. It's only now, back in the United States, that I've had a chance to digest, reflect, and express some of my realizations.

Lesson one: it's cooler when you're not trying so hard

Image courtesy of MyDisneyVacationResort.com

It's quite fascinating that this symbol of "cute" is actually, expressionless. Hello Kitty has no mouth. At first glance, there's no in-your-face giddiness like other characters vying for affection in the competitive cartoon landscape. This makes her the epitome of one who doesn't try too hard (while others strike poses on center stage), which makes her totally cool.

During our Hello Kitty days, my friends and I also held annual passes to Disneyland ("The Happiest Place On Earth") in Anaheim, where the characters we met were alliterative, bouncy and chatty. Big-eared and high-pitched and always happy, the gang sang and danced and paraded and dated, openly. Emotions were rampant in the Wonderful World of Disney.

(Sidenote: Not that Hello Kitty didn't know how to have fun. If you didn't know, Hello Kitty had a boyfriend at one time too—Daniel—but he never made it to the big time.)

Lesson two: love and communication, Hello Kitty style

Images courtesy of Hake's Americana and MundoHelloKitty.com

Let's compare Hello Kitty to Mickey Mouse. The Mickey Mouse storylines revolve around him and his girl-mouse Minnie, and Westerners enjoy (and expect) their open affection for each other. The images are everywhere (did I mention it's The Happiest Place On Earth) that in order to be happy, we should have a partner. (A whole separate post there? I think so too.)

Growing up with these two characters as regular fixtures in my life, I went back to Japan in my twenties and began to understand Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse in a cultural context (of course), realizing that their personalities mirrored that of their birth countries. Allow me to explain.

Hello Kitty may seem expressionless to you, but take a longer look. Do you start to get the sense that she is smiling at you? Or, if you've done something naughty, do you feel her eyes on you now, possibly in a slight scowl as if to scold you? She's a mirror to your emotions. What you see in Hello Kitty, is basically...you. (Whereas Goofy will never be anything but goofy. You may be sad or elated, but he's still Goofy.)

This information can be useful if you ever decide to be (or happen to find yourself in) a relationship with a Japanese person. Oftentimes your partner's expression itself will not reveal his (or her) true emotions to you immediately. There is a lot of room for interpretation, meaning also, there is much room for misinterpretation.

I'm not implying that your boyfriend-from-Japan is a Sanrio character. I am implying that he is from a culture that places importance on "interpretation" and "reading between the lines" and "sensing what the other person is thinking." Take nothing at face value. Waving excitedly will get you nowhere.

Lesson three: We grow up, move on, become digitized

Image courtesy of EW.com

Every cartoon character represents a certain trait, and we choose our favorite character based on who is most like us. But eventually we get bored and we move on to characters with more stimulating thoughts and conversations. I moved on to Toy Story.

That's the Western way: we grow up, we move on, and they (the characters) get digitized. They become a mirror to our emotions through words and conversation, heard loud and clear in 3D and web interaction. Each American character has a very strong voice.

Whereas Hello Kitty looks still, exactly as she did in 1975, and still does not have a voice. She is who we want her to be, her expressions based on our emotions, and she does not need to sing and dance for your affection (except at Sanrio's amusement parks in Japan - but the parks struggle while the merchandise continue to fly off the shelves). That face is enough, and she will remain timeless, a "voice" to little (and not so little) girls everywhere.

We see in these characters, the dreams they create, and the stories they tell us, how culture shapes our personalities and outlook on life.

Once we grow up, it's time for the baton to be passed. And on it goes.

And on I go, on another day of cultural reflection...neither Hello Kitty nor Mickey Mouse by my side. It's just me now, learning life's lessons.