A traditional kagamiwari ceremony was held Oct. 10 during a members-only viewing of the Japanese American National Museum’s exhibition “Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty,” which officially opened on Oct. 11. Wielding mallets to break open the sake barrel were (from left) Gordon Yamate, chairman of the JANM Board of Trustees; Dr. Christine Yano of University of Hawaii, curator of the 40thanniversary retrospective portion of the exhibition; Jamie Rivadeneira of JapanLA, curator of the contemporary art component; Janet Hsu, chief operating officer of Sanrio North America; and Nikki Kodama, a member of the JANM Board of Governors. Speakers included actress Tamlyn Tomita and JANM President/CEO Greg Kimura. Also present were Sanrio CEO Katsumi Murakami, Senior Vice President Ken Yamamoto, and Yuko Tsuji, daughter-in-law of Sanrio founder Shintaro Tsuji. (J.K. YAMAMOTO/Rafu Shimpo)
