Artist and character designer, Ms. Shimizu, graduated from Musashino Art University with an oil-painting major.   Working for Sanrio Company, she created `Hello Kitty` , `Happiness Balloon`, `Koro-chan` and `Honey-chan`.  She and her extremely popular creation, `Hello Kitty`, share the same birthday, November 1. As a freelance designer, in 2002 she released a new character, "Angel Cat Sugar"

In 2003, she was invited to participate in Tokyo Magazine's prestigious `Creativity Now Conference` in New York City.  Much attention was given to Ms. Shimizu´s `Hello Kitty`.

Mrs. Shimizu tells how Angel Cat Sugar was created

"Pie Chan was a cat I picked up on the street.  I didn´t know whether she had been thrown away or if she was a stray cat.  She was a very beautiful cat with gold eyes and white hair.  She was also a very kind cat.  She had fed two kittens, who had lost their mother, along with her own two babies, treating them as her own.  But she suddenly disappeared from me after she finished feeding the four kittens.  I looked for her everywhere, but I could not find her at all.  I had many cats in my life and she was the one who brought me a lot of memories. When I draw a white cat, I always remember Pie Chan.  I wonder if she might be feeding other kittens again somewhere.`