Kawaii, comes from Japanese word, can be translated to cuteness, the quality of being cute, or items that are cute. In Japan, Kawaii is a popular word used by young women. The meaning of cuteness in Japanese and the word describing cuteness in English are a little different. In other words, Japanese people have a deeper meaning and cultural background in using the word cuteness.
Japanese people pursue cuteness, not only fashion trends but also aesthetics and social culture with Japanese characteristics. Different from the ancient Greek aesthetic value of art, Western aesthetics focus on eternal, spectacular and mature, in opposite, traditional Japanese aesthetics advocates humility, intimacy, and purity. The cute clothing and decorations are generally small in shape, simple in design and soft in color, which is the best interpretation of the traditional Japanese aesthetic concept.
Japanese further use the word cute to describe the status of things in circumstances. For example, when the Japanese call people kawaii, they do not consider the age of a factor, and then describe the overall behavior of people. A lovable old man can also be called a cute old man that also means even his body is old in age, the man doesn’t want to be an old-fashioned and bored old man in his mind. Therefore, the Japanese “Kawaii” can describe its status to anyone and anything of any age.
According to the research by Meiji University, “Kawaii” is the mainstream of Japanese aesthetics; encompassing a nuance of grotesque and infiltrating the surroundings, the origin of “Kawaii” can be traced back to Japan’s Heian period.
“The modern concept of “kawaii” can be traced back to the Heian period. In the Pillow Book (Makura no Soshi), Sei Shonagon used the term utsukushi to describe a girl wearing an adult-size article of clothing with her fingers slightly coming out of its sleeves. Utsukushi did not have the same meaning as that of the modern term utsukushii, which means beautiful, but instead referred to a sense similar to kawaii. “
Different from the meaning of “Utsukushi” that describes beauty during the Heian period, it is more close to the meaning of “kawaii”. The aesthetic elements that Sei Shonagon appreciates inherited in Japanese culture and praise highly nowadays. The cognition of “cuteness” in Japanese traditional aesthetics has long fostered a feeling of small and childlike things.
Japanese high school girls and young white-collar women are the main groups consume cute items. For them, cuteness is a tool for identifying themselves. Most of them pursue living in groups and don’t want to be isolated. Because of this, having kawaii things is one way to help them find connectivity. Under the conditions of similar aesthetic consciousness, it is easy to generate conversations with people who have the same taste. Birds of a feather flock together, and people will gain a sense of belonging in the same types.
Therefore, Japanese women like to be surrounded by cute things, eager to make themselves cute, so mascots that with personified characteristics are easy to get into their lives and greatly loved. In recent years, in addition to the meaning of kawaii that describes small and childlike, it can also express the love and obsession of virtual characters such as anime and game characters, and mascots.
In addition, cuteness is not only for women, but men are also involved in a cute trend. More men in Japan cross-dressed as a girl. They add cute elements to their dressing and make them looked cute and like girls. They pursue giving people a cute feeling of fashion. Because of the popular of kawaii social phenomenon, some adults gradually accept the cute style unconsciously. This social phenomenon also reflects the Japanese culture. In their subconscious, they prefer to be a child rather than grow up as an adult.
How Japanese people admire Kawaii culture
— Produce kawaii products
Japanese modern young people are keen on the lovely product of the lovely cultural atmosphere “cute goods.” One of the biggest success stories is Hello Kitty. Almost no one in the world doesn’t know this big-faced cat. Hello Kitty’s image has been printed on a variety of different products and sells overseas. Hello Kitty bring good profits on the copyright of owners Sanrio company every year. Besides of hello kitty, Pokemon is one of the popular game worldwide. When the mobile virtual reality game combined with the actual terrain Pokemon Go was launched, it has been heated responses on the game. Pokemon go also bring a huge amount of profits to Japan.
Japan is also one of the biggest production of animations and games in the world. Japanese animations and video games are sold to overseas countries. The characters can be developed into side products to make more profits such as selling figures, posters, and toy…etc. With a huge overseas market, subcultures such as Japanese anime have become mainstream.
— Cute culture became the impression of Japan
Japan has incorporated “cute culture” into other daily merchandise. For example, Guess’s bag combines with kitty’s image. Skechers applied the character features in one of the popular anime — One Piece to its shoes. Combine people’s daily live products with Kawaii elements to promote Japanese Kawaii culture.
Now, Japan’s products sell to overseas markets are almost Kawaii products. In the United Kingdom and the United States, “kawaii” has become an English word that everyone knows.
As a cultural phenomenon, Kawaii has become a part of Japanese culture and has become a national symbol of Japan.
Tomoyuki Sugiyama, who is the author of Cool Japan, states out that “Kawaii has long been deeply rooted in the culture of harmony in Japan”.
Mutian Xuanyi, a sociology professor at Musashi University, pointed out that “Kawaii is a very magical word in Japan and it is loved”.
Additionally, some people believe that cuteness is actually a symbol of human innocence. They think that the “kawaii” culture presents that the Japanese are always refusing to grow up. embracing kawaii culture is one way to escape the cruel reality and high pressure living circumstances of Japan.
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