Rekindling a love for Hello Kitty opens the floodgates of childhood memories and nostalgia for East Bay fans who gathered at the 10th year anniversary celebration of the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck in Bay Street Emeryville.
The Hello Kitty Cafe’s journey began in 2014 with the launch of the Hello Kitty Truck, which quickly gained popularity. This success paved the way for the creation of the Hello Kitty Cafe Pop-Up Container in 2016, a first-of-its-kind concept, followed by the opening of Hello Kitty Mini Cafes in malls nationwide.
Fast forward to today, the pastel pink-wrapped minivan parked near H&M and Sephora on a patch of turf, drawing a slow but steady crowd of visitors shopping for limited-edition merchandise marking the 10th anniversary of the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck, alongside exclusive items celebrating Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary. Among the first to sell out were the five-piece macaron set and the thermal water bottle.
Tiffany Yu, 27, first experienced the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck in San Jose. When she learned that there would be an opportunity to attend another pop-up in the East Bay, she was excited. This time, Yu planned to purchase a new pin for her collection, and a box of cookies to later enjoy.
“Growing up, I was into Hello Kitty, and I have been revisiting my childhood through this,” Yu said.
Now as an adult, she works with children who she says happen to be big fans of Cinnamoroll, a white and chubby puppy with long ears.
While Hello Kitty gives fans a chance to reconnect with and reclaim childhood memories through experiences like the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck, the Sanrio universe transcends time, resonating across generations.The East Bay pop-up offered a glimpse into this enduring appeal.
Christine Yano, professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a leading expert on Hello Kitty’s impact, says the phenomenon of returning to Hello Kitty is so common that Sanrio even coined a term for it.
Sanrio has a term for this—they call it the U-turn,” she says. “The reason for turning away is maybe a lack of coolness, as you want to move away from your childhood. But the return could very well coincide with thinking it’s OK to revel in yourself as a girly-girl, or whatever cuteness represents.
Hello Kitty centers around the concept of kawaii, or “cute,” which can have different cultural interpretations. In Japan, Professor Yano says the core appeal of kawaii is rooted in vulnerability and empathy. These are qualities that connect to a common human experience—mothering, parenting or caring for others around the world.
For Ana Mendez, 26, who also attended the Hello Kitty Truck pop-up, Hello Kitty provides a sense of comfort, “I got into Hello Kitty during the pandemic—she’s cute and she can be whatever you want her to be.”
Part of Hello Kitty’s appeal lies in exactly what Mendez describes: she’s a character onto whom you can project whatever feelings or emotions you need, at any stage of life.
While Hello Kitty and the other Sanrio characters have their own stories, professor Yano emphasizes that it is the abstraction—the intentional blankness—that broadens their appeal, allowing fans to fill in the emotional specifics themselves.
“In some ways, whether it’s deliberate by design, by happenstance, or a kind of Japanese cultural propensity for abstraction—by putting less in, it allows you, the consumer, to put more of yourself there,” Yano said.
Although Hello Kitty has experienced fluctuations in popularity, Yano attributes her lasting appeal to the flexibility Sanrio has allowed, along with her edgy qualities that artists and fans infused into her through their own unique interpretations. In the end, as Hello Kitty takes on different forms, she remains the sweet, pink icon her fans know and love.
In case you missed The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck this time, it will be in Walnut Creek’s Broadway Plaza from 10am to 7pm on May 3.
