Hello Kitty 40-Year Retrospective at the JANM

Hello Kitty Con has come & gone but you can still visit the Japanese American National Museum in downtown LA to tour their Hello Kitty exhibit. This 40-year retrospective is entitled Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty.

For those who follow my blog, you’ll remember that I visited Hello Kitty Con last month.

As part of my one-day pass, I was able to visit both Hello Kitty Con AND the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) exhibit. JANM’s exhibit will be open through April 26, 2015 May 31, 2015 (see Editor’s note below). This is a specially ticketed exhibition & it’s best to purchase these tickets in advance.

So what can you see at JANM’s Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty?

As soon as you walk in, you’ll see the Hello Kitty coin purse that debuted in March 1975. This was the first Hello Kitty item ever!

In a previous blog post, I talked about the Hello Kitty gum that I used to buy when I was younger. Here’s a display of that gum. Aaah, memories…

For the sports enthusiast, here’s a cool skateboard, surfboard & vintage roller skates. Isn’t that the cutest surfboard?!

Also on display were Hello Kitty backpacks. It’s so cool to see the different designs from various years. I also spotted lunchboxes. My daughter has the green one on the right.

For the last several years, the Los Angeles Dodgers have one game during the regular season where they give out Hello Kitty bobbleheads. Here’s a display of some samples.

I don’t play the guitar, but if I were to ever take up lessons, this is the one I’d want. 😉

Also on display were some items that were unique to Japan.

On one of the long hallways, they had Hello Kitty photos from over the years. It all started in 1974!

It was so long & there was no way I could take a photo of it in one frame, so I took a video of it. However I had to break it up into two sections. You can see it here & here.

Did you know that Hello Kitty is 5 apples tall?

They had a lot of artwork on display. These were my three favorite pieces.

Here’s Lady Gaga’s infamous Hello Kitty dress!

All in all it was a fun afternoon at the Japanese American National Museum. If you’re a Hello Kitty fan, this is a great family-friendly exhibit. The museum is located in DTLA’s Little Tokyo district. Check out their website for more information.

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. I purchased my own Hello Kitty Con ticket, which enabled me to see the special exhibit at JANM. All images & opinions are 100% my own.

**Editor’s Note: I just recently found out that due to the success of this exhibit, Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty has been extended for one month and will now be on view through May 31, 2015.**