Cuteness in Japanese culture

Since the 1970s, cuteness (可愛さ, kawaisa^?) has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms.^[1] Foreign observers often find this cuteness either intriguing or revolting because the Japanese employ it in a vast array of situations and demographics where, in other cultures, it would be considered incongruously juvenile or frivolous (for example, in government publications, public service warnings, office environments, military advertisements, and commercial airliners, among many others).

An All Nippon Airways Boeing 747 in Pokémon livery.

Cute elements can be found almost everywhere in Japan, from big business to corner markets and national government, ward, and town offices.^[2][3] Many companies, large and small, use cute mascots to present their wares and services to the public. For example:

• Pikachu, a character from Pokémon, adorns the side of three All Nippon Airways passenger jets.
• Asahi Bank used Miffy (Nijntje), a character from a Dutch series of children's picture books, on some of its ATM and credit cards.
• Monkichi, a cute monkey character, can be found on the packaging for a line of condoms^[4]
• All 47 prefectures have cute mascot characters
• The Japan Post "Yū-Pack" mascot is a stylized mailbox.^[5]
• The Japan Post also uses other cute mascot characters, for example, on stamps.
• Some police forces in Japan have their own moe mascots, which sometimes adorn the front of koban (police boxes).
• Hello Kitty

Cute merchandise is extremely popular in Japan. The two largest manufacturers of such merchandise are Sanrio (manufacturers of "Hello Kitty") and San-X (manufacturers of "Kogepan", "Nyan Nyan Nyanko" and "Rilakkuma"). This character merchandise is a hit with Japanese children and adults alike.^[6][7]

Cute can be also used to describe a specific fashion sense^[8][9] of an individual, and generally includes clothing that appears to be made for young children, outside of the size, or clothing that accentuates the cuteness of the individual wearing the clothing. Ruffles and pastel colors are commonly (but not always) featured, and accessories often include toys or bags featuring anime characters.^[10]

As a cultural phenomenon, cuteness is increasingly accepted in Japan as a part of Japanese culture and national identity. Tomoyuki Sugiyama, author of "Cool Japan", believes that "cuteness" is rooted in Japan's harmony-loving culture, and Nobuyoshi Kurita, a sociology professor at Musashi University in Tokyo, has stated that "cute" is a "magic term" that encompasses everything that's acceptable and desirable in Japan.^[11]

On the other hand, those skeptical of cuteness consider it a sign of an infantile mentality.^[11] In particular, Hiroto Murasawa, professor of beauty and culture at Osaka Shoin Women’s University asserts that cuteness is "a mentality that breeds non-assertion ... Individuals who choose to stand out get beaten down."^[11]

Cute merchandise and products are especially popular in some parts of east Asia, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore.^[12]

In some Asian and western cultures, the Japanese word for cute (kawaii, かわいい) has joined a number of other Japanese words borrowed by overseas fans of Japanese pop culture often in the wrong context. While the usage is almost entirely limited to the otaku subculture, it has been used by American singer Gwen Stefani, who gave kawaii a brief mention in her Hollaback Girl music video.^[13]

Linguistic note: The word "kawaii" in Japanese has a broader definition than the English word "cute". When applied to pop culture, "cute" will suffice; however "kawaii" refers primarily to the affection of a parent toward a child coupled with the protectiveness for the innocent and weak. Thus a pop cartoon character is considered "kawaii" because it exemplifies the innocence of a child and evokes general protective, caring instincts in the viewer. Other translations of "kawaii" can include "precious", "lovable" or "innocent".^[14]

• Japanese Street Fashion
• Beauty
• Moe (slang)
• Ero kawaii
• Lolita fashion
• Lolicon

• Asia Times: The cat who turned kawaii into cash (book review)
• Chanpon: Hello Kitty has no mouth
• International Herald Tribune: Tokyo's fantasy cafés
• New York Times: The Cute Factor
• Sociologist Sharon Kinsella's analysis of the origins of kawaii
• Taipei Times: How 'kawaii'!
• Time Asia: Young Japan: She's a material girl
• What is the effect of the Fantabulous Kawaii Gizmos, Wireless Privacy Daemons & Orientalism
• Shiokawa, Kanako. "Cute But Deadly: Women and Violence in Japanese Comics". Themes and Issues in Asian Cartooning: Cute, Cheap, Mad and Sexy. Ed. John A. Lent. Bowling Green, Kentucky: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1999. 93–125. ISBN 0-87972-779-9.
• "You are doing burikko!: Censoring/scrutinizing artificers of cute femininity in Japanese," Laura Miller in Gender, and Ideology: Cultural Models and Real People, edited by Janet Shibamoto Smith and Shigeko Okamoto, Oxford University Press, 2004. In Japanese.
• TheAge.Com: "Japan smitten by love of cute"
• Love for cute has Japan engrossed in soul-searching on kitty, beauty, art
• Japanese choose their favorite cute corporate mascots