Hello Kitty celebrates 35 years! at Schema : more than ethnic

Hello Kitty celebrates 35 years!

Did you know that Hello Kitty is now 35 years old? While searching through the archives of Schema, I came upon this interesting entry about a brown Hello Kitty (below). Wondering if there were other colours, I Googled "Hello Kitty" and discovered that she's about to turn 35. It's amazing that this little white kitty, with a red bow has managed to gather popularity from all over the world. As an Asian girl myself, I was once addicted to Hello Kitty. Surprisingly, I still remember my very first Hello Kitty item. It was a red diary with a big white Hello Kitty face in the center and a miniature lock to keep any possible human soul away. To me Hello Kitty's skin was always white—no questions asked. It wasn't until I came upon this entry that I started to wonder why I never questioned the color of Hello Kitty's skin. In actuality, Hello Kitty has been other colours, like pink and brown (see below).

In celebration to Hello Kitty's 35th Anniversary, Sanrio is hosting an event in California on October 23rd to November 15th, 2009 called the Three Apples Exhibition. This event is dedicated to all things Hello Kitty. In addition to the event, Sanrio had added new colors to Hello Kitty's bow. If anyone is planning to visit California during the fall, check out this event as it is free for the public.

Originally Published by Alden on schemamag.ca in 2007

TV isn't the only place where it's hard to find a diversity of skin colour. The universe of toys can be just as out-of-touch with the real world; and often oversimplifying the world to black and white, literally. Well what about brown? Brown means many things to many people, but in Hawai'i it means everybody -- partly because there is no majority in Hawai'i. With close to 20% of the population claiming to be of mixed ethnicity, it's a full range of brown possibilities: the golden brown of "mixed" hapa Hawaiian (which includes many half-Filipinos, half-Japanese and half-Chinese), and Hawaiians of Chinese and Japanese ancestry (57% of the population is Asian), the orange-brown-beige tans of white American and European tourists, the Japanese and Chinese tourists that have overcome their fear of being darker, and of course the darker Latinos, Pinoys and the indigenous peoples of Hawaiian Islands (at the point of contact there were 600,000 inhabitants in Hawai'i). Exclusive to ABC Stores - a tourist mecca - is the bronzed ("tanned") Hello Kitty. So if you've been looking for brown in the pristine white universe of this huge Japanese icon, it's here in Hawai'i.
More:
Ethnicities in Hawaii
Hello Kitty Phone Strap- Pink MuuMuu
Hello Kitty Sticky Tabs

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Hello Kitty celebrates 35 years!

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