You’re not seeing double! The Sanrio icon really does have a twin sibling, though she’s very different from her world-famous sister.

Even after more than four decades as one of Japan’s most popular characters, Hello Kitty keeps finding ways to surprise us. Last month alone she amazed us with her prowess at wrestling in the traditional Mongolian style and startled us with her aplomb at dropping F-bombs, but now she’s shocked us once again as we’ve learned that she has a twin sister!

That might look like Hello Kitty, or Kitty White, to use her official given and family names, in the above illustration, but it’s not. It’s actually her twin sister Mimmy (pronounced closely to “Mimi”), who was born on the same day as, though just slightly later than, Kitty.

As identical twins, Kitty and Mimmy look exactly alike, but their ever-so-slightly different tastes in fashion are how you can tell them apart. While Kitty wears a red or pink bow on her left ear, Mimmy favors a yellow one on her right.

▼ Kitty

The bigger difference, though, is in their personalities. According to Mimmy’s official bio on Sanrio Japanese website, Mimmy is a little on the bashful and shy side, unlike her adventurous twin whose outgoing nature has netted her jobs in fields as varied as Shinto purification and construction site management. The website for Puroland, Tokyo’s Sanrio theme park, also says that the more introverted Mimmy enjoys embroidery and patchwork sewing, and that she excels in home economics in school.

Though Mimmy isn’t a new character, she’s been almost entirely overlooked by the fan community, with even many passionate Kitty supporters completely unaware of her existence. Personally, we haven’t been this shocked since we found out that SoraNews24’s ace reporter Mr. Sato has a twin.

With her reserved character, it’s unlikely that we’ll see Mimmy follow in Kitty’s footsteps and become a YouTuber. However, she will be appearing at the Anniversary Time show at Puroland during December and January, giving fans a chance to say “Hello, Mimmy!”

Sources: Sanrio, Puroland (1, 2)
Top image: Puroland
Insert images: Sanrio, Puroland
[ Read in Japanese ]