2. What is Kawaii?
• “Kawaii” (かわいい) is most often translated
as “cute” (Fiona, 2012)
• It is a relatively contemporary term; it used to be
“かわゆし” (“shy” and “embarrassed”, but also
“pathetic”, “vulnerable”, “lovable”, and “small”) in
theTaisho era
• “かわいそう” (“pathetic”, “poor”, and “pitiful”) is
derived from かわいい
3. What is Kawaii?
(Cont.)• To behave in a kawaii way is to behave in a
childlike manner; the goal is to seem innocent
and naive, weak and submissive, and utterly
dependent on others (Fiona, 2012)
• Paradoxically, kawaii is also supposed to be
unconscious and natural
• Could be related to amae (“indulging
oneself by depending on somebody
else”)
4. The History of
Kawaii• Kawaii can be said to have its roots in the Edo
period (1603-1868) (Okazaki, 11)
• Fashionable woodblock illustrations called bijinga
(‘beautiful person picture’) were popular
• Bijinga continued to be popular through the Meiji
andTaisho eras (1868-1926)more and more
Westernized dress
• YumejiTakehisa (1884-1934) is considered to
be first kawaii shojo illustrator and kawaii
goods proprietor
6. The History of
Kawaii (Cont.)• During WWII, cute things were considered bad
(Okazaki, 11)
• However, post-war times featured the creation
of several girl’s magazines, such as Soleil (1946)
• By the 1970s, shojo illustrators were popular
• Riyoko Ikeda’s Rose ofVersailles
• Yumiko Igarashi’s CandyCandy
• During the mid-1980s, companies like Sanrio
began flooding the market with cute characters
such as Hello Kitty
• This trend continued even after the Japanese bubble
economy burst
7. Mascots
• Cute mascots added a further layer of
consumer culture to the kawaii wave in the
1970s (Flanagin, 2011). Some of the most
popular globally are:
• Hello Kitty: 1974
• Pikachu: 1996
• Domo-kun: 1998
• Rilakkuma: 2003
• Kumamon: 2011
8. Fashion
• Kawaii fashion is generally seen as originating
in May 1975 with an article in the Japanese
magazine an-an that said, “PLAY! Cuteness!
Go For theYoungTheme!” (Kinsella, 229)
• Clothes were white/pastel for women and
bright/rainbow for men; styles were “fluffy and
frilly” originally, and went through several other
changes
• Other styles, like Lolita, began from these trends
in the 1980s (“The History of..”)
11. Writing
• Many argue that the love for stylized visual
representation in Japan began with the adoption
of Chinese characters (Kato, 2002)
• However, “maru-ji” (“round writing”)/ ”koneko-ji”
(“kitten writing”) arose suddenly in the 1970s and
was so hard to read that, after upwards of 5
million of the population were using it in the
1980s, it was banned (“On Being Cute in Japan”,
2011)
• It involves writing every character in a cutesy fashion
• Considered a counter-cultural movement
13. …But Why?
• Unlike in theWest, adulthood in Japan is
considered a period of never-ending work to
fulfill overwhelming responsibilities, as well
as putting aside individuality and freedom
(Fiona, 2012)
• Kawaii allows members of society to indulge in
child-like innocence and in a sense, reduce the
anxiety that adulthood causes, while
simultaneously finding a niche to belong in
