日本卡通形象Hello Kitty1日迎來40周歲生日,世界各地粉絲舉辦慶祝活動,為這一“酷萌”偶像慶生。

日本三麗鷗公司1974年設計出第一款Hello Kitty，最初用在一款零錢包上,后來拓展至小貼紙、筆、筆記本、衣服、玩具、手表、家電等全方位產品上，每年零售總收入超過80億美元。

洛杉磯和新加坡日前都舉行了Hello Kitty展，不過位于東京的展會是最大規模的，有游行等其他活動。

日裔美國人國家博物館正在研究Hello Kitty的文化背景。該館館長稱，雖然Hello Kitty是在美國抵制亞洲情緒嚴重的1970年代來到美國的，它還是一推出就受到年輕女孩的喜愛。

三麗歐公司不久前還曾宣稱，Hello Kitty不是一只貓，而是一個女孩，這種說法引起了爭議。

A cute-a-bration has broken out among Hello Kitty fans, as the beloved Japanese character marks its 40th year. Since introducing Hello Kitty in 1974, the Sanrio company has turned simple design and a knack for accessorizing into $8 billion worth of annual sales.

The milestone inspired a Hello Kitty Con in Los Angeles and a large run in Singapore. But the largest fete was in Tokyo, where Sanrio put on a parade and other events.

Hello Kitty's cultural context is currently being explored by the Japanese American National Museum, where an exhibit includes "a 12-foot-tall statue depicting Hello Kitty as Cleopatra," as reporter Lisa Napoli noted for NPR last month.

The museum's director, Greg Kimura, told Napoli that despite arriving when anti-Asian sentiment was high in the U.S. back in the 1970s, Hello Kitty "was immediately adopted by young girls because they sensed in her this connection to Japanese and Asian cultural idiom."

The feline character's 40th birthday has also included controversy, after Sanrio said in August, "Hello Kitty is not a cat. She's a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She's never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature."

But as Japan Times notes today, Hello Kitty "started out life known only as 'the white kitten with no name' ('namae no nai shiroi koneko')." And the company has modulated its tone, telling the website Kotaku, "Hello Kitty is a personification of a cat."

Of course, none of that fazed the feline's fans. NPR.org reader Len Black's comments on Lisa Napoli's story included this birthday poem:

"Lordy, Lordy Hello Kitty is forty, Very cute for such a shorty. The little Kit hasn't changed a bit. They say she's a girl dressed as a cat. Don't know about that. In my heart you'll always be a cat. Happy Birthday Kit Kat!"

（來源：NPR 編輯：祝興媛）