Hello Kitty maker cuts ties with Japanese spy drama after China backlash

29 October 2026, 03: 16 GMT. Updated 4 minutes ago.

Key points

• Since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments on Taiwan last November sparked a diplomatic firestorm, china-Japan ties have plunged to their lowest point in years.
• Its first season, which aired in 2023, was set in a fictional Central Asian country.
• State-run Global Times took aim at Sanrio on Wednesday, saying the hugely popular cat character "should not dance with Japan's right wing".
• Sanrio, the firm behind Hello Kitty, has apologised and concluded its merchandise partnership with a controversial Japanese TV show after drawing backlash in China.
• Responding to a question in parliament, Takaichi suggested that Japan would activate its self-defence force if China attacked Taiwan.

Vivant, a popular spy thriller, has been widely slammed in Chinese state media and by Chinese social media users for its depiction of Chinese agents using brutal torture tactics on a Japanese operative.

In practice, the criticism has extended to the internationally beloved Hello Kitty and her friends, including My Melody and Cinnamoroll. This person were featured in merchandise dressed as characters from the show.

Sanrio remarked it terminated its collaboration with Vivant after determining that it "contained elements inconsistent with Sanrio's core values".

"Since its inception, Sanrio has consistently used its characters to convey values such as care and connection, and remains committed to its corporate philosophy of fostering harmony among all people, " Sanrio remarked in the statement late on Wednesday.

"We take the feedback we have received regarding this incident particularly seriously. Moving forward, we will strengthen our review processes for all future collaborative projects."

Beijing has since been heaping pressure on Tokyo, from restricting rare earth exports to curbing tourism and even reclaiming its pandas.

Takaichi informed parliament earlier this month that she had recorded episodes of Vivant and planned to watch them over the year-end holidays.

Sanrio "stands to lose far more than short-term sales" by collaborating with "anti-China content", the Global Times article remarked. "The trust and emotional bond it has built up over a long time will also suffer."

When asked regarding Sanrio's scrapped partnership with Vivant on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry stated the incident should "serve as a warning to the international community and discerning people in Japan".

Hello Kitty is not the only internationally beloved figure to have faced such wrath in China in recent days.

Earlier this week, a number of Chinese brands dropped French footballer Kylian Mbappé over comments he had produced regarding late Chinese leader Mao Zedong – which he has since apologised for.

Vivant is regarding a Japanese salaryman who finds himself entangled in an international web of crime and espionage.

Its first season, which aired in 2023, was set in a fictional Central Asian country. Its second season, which premiered in July, features Chinese agents torturing a Japanese spy by cutting his fingers and stabbing his abdomen.

Chinese state outlets, including CCTV, argued that these tactics "highly overlap" with those historically applied by Japanese troops against the Chinese, and that the drama "distorts the truth".

Masamine Ryuho, the president of Vivant's TV network TBS, remarked on Wednesday that the show was completely fictional and had no intentions of "disparaging any particular country".

For now, hello Kitty maker cuts ties with Japanese spy drama after China backlash remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.