Japan, the Dream of Capital

Japan is the dream of capital: the withering away of politics in favor of economic development. The emblem of this dream is Hello Kitty, who, without a mouth, never expresses herself, infantilized like an ideal wage worker and in turn infantilizing all who embrace her. According to Wikipedia, Hello Kitty was created by Sanrio in 1974 and registered as a trademark in 1976. The timing of her birth, at the threshold of the neoliberal stage of global capitalism, is perfect.

Hello Kitty is not only the dream of capital but also its nightmare at the same time: she doesn't have sex, and she doesn't reproduce labor power. It's like the word "kawaii" (cute) pronounced by the average American, whose tongue dissolves it into "kowai" (frightening).