かわいい (Kawaii)
-adjective
1. meaning cute
The Japanese are really big on things that are cute. It seems they will try and make everything cute in some way. I'm not so sure anymore they didn't invent the word itself.
I don't know about the general preconception of old Japan from other foreigners but images of strong Samurai and hard work come to my mind. History seems to be filled with wars and random occupations. I'm thinking Ninjas, geisha and daily toil. All these images just make me even more confused as to how and at what point did Japan become SO CUTE?
Japan has taken the idea of cute and totally went bat-crazy with it.
Everything has been cuted (totally made up adjective)The cartoons are filled with huge doe eyed girls, the commercials complete with random talking animals,the women appearing pretty much like they jumped out of the cartoon. Even an advertisement for a political candidate features a tiny animated likeness of him/her. Japan loves cute and thus everything seems to be tailored to that love. Besides the physical cuteness of everything, you will probably never find another country that uses the word "cute" more during your entire stay on this planet. I am almost convinced you could have an entire conversation with a group of high school girls using only "cute" and they would totally understand everything that was on your mind.
This brings me back to my original question. How and when did Japan become so "cute"?
I asked a few Japanese friends and no one seems to be able to quite place the change but have told me a lot of it most likely stems back to those hardened warrior days. Even in the era's such as the Edo period the Japanese were really into creating small things and quite fond of little creations perhaps because generally they were small in stature themselves and Geisha's were sporting cute outfits before Harajuku was conceived. At some point cute just became so lucrative that it completely took over Japan. If you are looking to blame someone for that the Sanrio Corporation (creator of Hello Kitty) would probably be a good place to start.
Personally I like cute and I certainly don't mind cute women, I just think its interesting just how cute Japan has become. In order to truly understand I urge you to visit pretty much any shopping district in Tokyo and or turn on your TV while visiting.
For a more educated look at cute in Japan check out this article.
http://uniorb.com/ATREND/Japanwatch/cute.htm
They've even manage to turn poop cute...go figure.
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