Sanrio is ... Initially, its name is the Yamanashi Silk Center and sells silk products from Yamanashi prefecture. San Rio is Spanish for "holy river". 1970: In-house character production started. More than 400 characters including Hello Kitty in '74, My Melody in '75, Minna no Tabou in '84, Kerokero Keroppi in '87, Bad Badtsumaru in '93, Pompompurin in '96, Cinnamoroll in 2001, SHOW BY ROCK!! in 2012 are produced.