Kato, the Green Hornet’s valet/chauffeur/bodyguard//mechanic began as a character from the Far East. In the 1936 premiere of the Green Hornet radio program, Kato was presented as Japanese. As I drew a cartoon of Bruce Lee as Kato for the ASL hand sign for CHINA, I used him again for the ASL hand sign for the Land of the Rising Sun as Kato is also the tenth most common Japanese surname. Dressed in a White Valet Tux, the coloured map of the country behind him, Kato illustrates the updated ASL hand sign for JAPAN, a loan hand sign from JSL Japanese Sign Language. The Index finger and thumb of both hands pull apart and close, outlining the shape of the island.
#ASL #signlanguage #kato #greenhornet #brucelee #japan #nihon #nippon #cartoon #myasldictionary
Looking back now, it was a missed opportunity my Kato research stopped after Japan and China. I could have continued to use the character for the hand signs of his other nationalities, KOREA, the PHILIPPINES, and TAWAIN.
