Bombshell news from today's LA Times! Hello Kitty—a brand beloved by innocent children and sarcastic teenagers—is not actually a cat. This from Christine R. Yano, anthropologist and Hello Kitty scholar. "Hello Kitty is not a
This latest travesty comes courtesy of an article this week in the Los Angeles Times, which is preparing for a forthcoming Kitty retrospective and Hello Kitty Con that mark the 40th anniversary since Japan first stamped the blank-faced cat not-a-cat on
As the author of the 2013 book "Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty's Trek Across the Pacific," Yano was especially suited to research the pop culture character for the exhibit. And she uncovered interesting facts about Hello Kitty that fans might not
"She's a cartoon character," Christine R. Yano, anthropologist and curator of the Japanese American National Museum's upcoming Hello Kitty retrospective, told me. "She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She's never depicted on all
Hello Kitty is one of the most easily recognizable characters in the history of modern culture. She's the smileless (well, mouthless) Mona Lisa. And this year, she's turning 40 (just two years until Esquire can deem her bangable)! But did you know that