Sanrio Co. Ltd.

Ultra 2013: Best Inflatable Animals and Blow-Up Dolls

Ultra Music Festival is a zoo. From land sharks to killer whales, pink flamingos to African zebras, UMF 2013 is starting to feel a lot like a World Wildlife Foundation fundraiser, complete with endangered species and cuddly critters. See also: The 13 Most Hardcore Ravers at Ultra, as GIFs Attenti ... More >>

10 Best Eats in Little Tokyo: Neighborhood Grub Crawl

L.A.'s Little Tokyo is home to at least 100 eateries -- Japanese and non-Japanese, old and new, traditional and innovative. And it is just about 0.13 square miles in size -- dense, compact, and easily explored on foot. (Roughly bounded between 4th, Alameda, Temple, and Los Angeles streets.) That mea ... More >>

10 Best Arcades in L.A.

See also: *Family Fun Arcade Prepares to Close After Four Decades *10 Oddball L.A. Museums Worth Seeing *10 Best Standup Comedy Shows in L.A. For those of us who grew up in the 1980s and '90s, arcades were an integral part of our childhood and adolescence. They existed inside malls and in shoppin ... More >>

Free Frozen Yogurt at Universal Citywalk Tomorrow Hello Kitty

Love Hello Kitty? Love Froyo? Then you'll probably be as giddy as a preteen Japanese schoolgirl to discover that Yogurtland has paired up with Sanrio to debut their line of co-brand merchandise set for release beginning tomorrow through Labor Day weekend. All your favorite characters -- Hello Kitty, ... More >>

My Little Pony Project Brings Bronies and Pegasisters to Toy Art Gallery

See also: *More photos from the My Little Pony Project opening at Toy Art Gallery *Top 5 Lessons for Adults From My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic *Boba Fett as a Girl: N.C. Winters Mashes Up Star Wars and My Little Pony in 'Abandoned Menagerie' Just before 8:30 p.m., when the line to enter Toy ... More >>

Eric Joyner's Vintage Robots Travel to Thailand in Paintings at Corey Helford

Eric JoynerCatfish​Eric Joyner is known for robots, the tin toy variety that appeared in the U.S. during the mid-20th century and pointed to a future that may now seem quaint. He hasn't kept track of how many of these toys he owns, saying his collection is somewhere between "50 and 100" pieces ... More >>

Adventure Time Is a Hit at San Diego Comic-Con

Shannon CottrellAdventure Time takes over a Gaslamp Quarter pizza spot​See more photos in "San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Preview Night," "San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Day One," "San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Day Two,""San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Day Three" and "San Diego Comic-Con 2011 Day Four." If you were ... More >>

Miku-Kitty Brings Together Virtual Singer Hatsune Miku and Hello Kitty (Updated with Photos of Miku-Kitty)

Shannon Cottrell​See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's gallery, "Anime Expo 2011: Day One, Friday." Updated with photos of Miku-Kitty on Page 2. First published 7/02/11 at 7:36 a.m. Hatsune Miku fans were not left disappointed after spending Friday afternoon in line for the Miku Keynote pres ... More >>

Live Review: Hatsune Miku @ Nokia Theatre for Anime Expo 2011

Shannon Cottrell​For more photos, see Shannon Cottrell's gallery, "Anime Expo at Night: Hatsune Miku in Concert, Tune in Tokyo at Club Nokia." Read more about Anime Expo 2011 in Style Council. The big draw for this year for Anime Expo 2011 was Japan's virtual pop star. Hatsune Miku is a chara ... More >>

Best Retail Site: JapanLA

Yoshiki: The Kei Master

Chubby Bunny: Michelle Nguyen's Bows Were All the Rage with Sanrio, Now She's Launching Her New Collection at JapanLA

Shannon CottrellMichelle Nguyen of Chubby Bunny​See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's gallery "Peek Inside Michelle Nguyen's Latest Chubby Bunny Hair Accessories Collection." Saturday night at Melrose Ave. shop JapanLA, Michelle Nguyen will debut her latest Chubby Bunny accessories collection ... More >>

Artist Luke Chueh Talks 'Possessed,' Sanrio, Anime and The Venture Bros.

If you live in L.A., you might think that Luke Chueh is everywhere. The local artist with an international reputation has had, he estimates, ten solo shows in the city (his latest, Contemptorary ran at Corey Helford Gallery in February). He's been in countless group shows, from the Cannibal Flower e ... More >>

Dear Lemon Lima

What's Your Favorite Sanrio Character (That Isn't Hello Kitty)?

For more from Small Gift, check out "Kitty in Pink: Sanrio's '80s Prom," "Sanrio Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary with 'Small Gift'" and "Sanrio Meets Fight Club in Peekaboo Monster's Installation for Small Gift." Hello Kitty might be the most famous Sanrio character, but she certainly isn't the onl ... More >>

Nerding Out For Hello Kitty And Her Pals at Sanrio's Small Gift Celebration

Lina LecaroRevenge of the Bubble Punch babes.​ When we think about the ultimate Sanrio fan, it's usually an adorable little Japanese girl or a punky, pink-haired grown-up Amercian girl, not a boy in broken glasses, suspenders and argyle socks. So we didn't quite get the "I Heart Nerds" theme ... More >>

Sanrio Meets Fight Club in Peekaboo Monster's Installation for Small Gift

L.A.-based artist Peekaboo Monster has neighbors who make soap. He wanted to include soap in his work for Small Gift, Sanrio's 50th anniversary art show currently running at Santa Monica Barker Hangar. But how was he going to combine the two? Shannon Cottrell​ Fight Club, of course. "Honestly ... More >>

Happier Meal: Hide Sushi for the Under 10 Set

Tokyo Japanese Lifestyles & Outlet​ Whoever first came up with the whole "Happy Meal" concept is surely the world's most evil genius, so brilliantly and pointedly does it speak to the dirty (as in: crumbs on the floor, spilt milk on the table, and ketchup on that brand new Crewcuts dress) tru ... More >>

Snooki Goes Kawaii: Jerrod Maruyama's Cute Interpretations of Pop Culture

Jerrod Maruyama is an illustrator from Northern California. He has worked on educational books, company logos, tattoo art and more. He designed Toy Story t-shirts that were sold at the Pixar Studio Store in Emeryville, CA and recently participated in the show "STRIPPED! Art Inspired By The Creativit ... More >>

Nightranger's Wild Ride

Inside Misha's Studio: Where Hello Kitty Meets 'Ghost in the Shell'

Artist Misha works in a home studio filled with collectibles-- shelves lined with Ghost in the Shell figures, Sanrio accessories, Gloomy Bear goodies and lots of small toys that she has accumulated over the years. Amidst the hodgepodge of cute, pop culture references, she paints adorable girls with ... More >>

Notorious Kitty Cat Tagger Arrested After Allegedy Painting Feline Images Around Downtown Los Angeles

SanrioDon't you know I'm loco?​Authorities on Wednesday announced they've taken one of the Los Angeles region's most hardcore criminals off the streets -- a man who surely strikes fear into the eyes of Hells Angels, Crips, Bloods and Girl Scouts alike. That's right, he's the ... kitty cat graf ... More >>

Hello Kitty Wine: Cat People and Alcoholics Rejoice!

The kitty wines range from $19.99 to $29.99.​Will you see Hello Kitty at your next AA meeting? Well, she does have a wine now. Fortunately for us, Drew Hibbert, CEO of Innovation Spirits (which will be marketing the wine here in the United States) took the time to answer some of our pressing ... More >>

Best of the LA Party Scene 2009

When your faithful correspondents weren't geeking out at conventions this year, we were searching L.A. for parties, preferably ones where people donned cosplay and we could engage in conversations about Nerf herders (really, I wish I was kidding about that last part). Fortunately, there was no short ... More >>

Kids’ Rock

Hello Kitty Goes Goth

Shannon Cottrell​ Click here to view Shannon Cottrell's slideshow from Hello Kitty's Bats and Cats Masquerade. If there's one song that can drag me to the dance floor anytime it's played, it's "Lady Shave," a weird, minimal synth gem from Fad Gadget. Friday night, when DJ Amanda Jones (Maled ... More >>

Hello Kitty Celebrates 35 Years at Royal/T (Where else?)

Photo Credit: Aaron Stein-ChesterCutting Kitty cake​When Hello Kitty, the imported Japanese icon of pencil boxes and cell phone tassles, celebrates her 35th anniversary with an enormous multi-dimensional art exhibition and three-weeks of special events at Culver City's Royal/T Cafe, the experi ... More >>

Hello Kitty, Rock Star?

Liz OhanesianDave Navarro with Royal/T owner Susan Hancock​ You're at a Hello Kitty party inside a maid cafe and realize that you're standing next to Dave Navarro. What do you do? You ask him who his favorite Sanrio character is. I was expecting him to mention one of the darker characters, ... More >>

Lela Lee

Angry awakening

Mass Attack

Scion Installation L.A.’s “To the Masses”

In the Kodak, in the Pink

And in the dollhouse

She Is Barbie, Hear Her Roar

Designer Tarina Tarantino drapes her favorite feminist icon in pearls

The Whole Kitty and Kaboodle

One writer’s lifelong love affair with Hello Kitty

The Art of Masturbation

Material Girls

Sawtelle Boulevard

Unrolling American Japanese food history on the Westside