Kawaii
Kawaii is a Japanese cultural phenomenon which emphasizes cuteness, childlike innocence, charm, and simplicity. Kawaii culture began to flourish in the 1970s, driven by youth culture and the rise of cute characters in manga and anime and merchandise, exemplified by the creation of Hello Kitty by Sanrio in 1974. The kawaii aesthetic is characterized by soft or pastel colors, rounded shapes, and features which evoke vulnerability, such as big eyes and small mouths, and has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, influencing entertainment, fashion, advertising, and product design.
Etymology
The word kawaii originally derives from the phrase 顔映し kao hayushi, which literally means " face aglow," commonly used to refer to flushing or blushing of the face/cheek. The second morpheme is cognate with -bayu in mabayui "dazzling, glaring, blinding, too bright; dazzlingly beautiful" and -hayu in omohayui "embarrassed/embarrassing, awkward, feeling self-conscious/making one feel self-conscious". Over time, the meaning changed into the modern meaning of "cute" or "pretty", and the pronunciation changed to かわゆい kawayui and then to the modern かわいい kawaii. It is commonly written in hiragana, かわいい, but the ateji, 可愛い, is also frequently used. The romanized kanji in the ateji literally translates to "able to love/be loved, can/may love, lovable."Various modern Standard Japanese words have related meanings such as the adjectival noun かわいそう kawaisō "piteous, pitiable, arousing compassion, poor, sad, sorry". Forms of kawaii and its derivatives kawaisō and kawairashii are used in modern dialects to mean "embarrassing/embarrassed, shameful/ashamed" or "good, nice, fine, excellent, superb, splendid, admirable".
History
Precursors
The notion of "kawaii" is traditionally traced back to Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book, composed between 900 and 1000, where in the section on "pretty things" she mentions several things that clearly fit the modern notion of cuteness. Kawaii culture is an offshoot of Japanese girls' culture, which flourished with the creation of girls' secondary schools after 1899. The postponement of marriage and children that came with the expansion of education for girls allowed for the rise of a girl youth culture in shōjo magazines and shōjo manga directed at girls in the pre-war period.Cute handwriting
In the 1970s, the popularity of the kawaii aesthetic inspired a style of writing. Many teenage girls contributed to the development of this style; the handwriting was made by writing laterally, often while using mechanical pencils. These pencils produced very fine lines, as opposed to traditional Japanese writing, which varied in thickness and was vertical. The teenage girls would also write in big, round characters and add little pictures to their writing, such as hearts, stars, emoticon faces, and letters of the Latin alphabet.These pictures made the writing very difficult to read. As a result, the new writing style caused controversy and was banned in many schools. During the 1980s, however, "cute" writing was adopted by magazines and comics and was often key to packaging and advertising products, especially toys for children or "cute accessories".
From 1984 to 1986, Kazuma Yamane studied the development of cute handwriting in depth. This type of cute Japanese handwriting has also been called marui ji, meaning "round writing"; koneko ji, meaning "kitten writing"; manga ji, meaning "comic writing"; and burikko ji, meaning "fake-child writing". Although it was commonly thought that the writing style was something that teenagers had picked up from comics, Kazuma found that teenagers had created the style themselves, spontaneously, as part of an 'underground trend'. His conclusion was based on the observation that cute handwriting predates the availability of the technical means for producing rounded writing in comics.
Use in Japanese language
Usage of Kawaii in Japanese is general and can be used in a variety of situations to describe aesthetics, to give a compliment, or to add a pleasantry or salutation to a conversation.Cute merchandise
Tomoyuki Sugiyama, author of Cool Japan, says cute fashion in Japan can be traced back to the Edo period with the popularity of netsuke. Illustrator Rune Naito, who produced illustrations of "large-headed" baby-faced girls and cartoon animals for Japanese girls' magazines from the 1950s to the 1970s, is credited with pioneering what would become the culture and aesthetic of kawaii. In Rune’s works, female figures seem to be from another world, with big “Bambi eyes”, thick lips and brightly coloured clothing.Because of this trend, companies such as Sanrio came out with merchandise like Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty was an immediate success and the obsession with cute continued to develop in other areas as well. More recently, Sanrio has released kawaii characters with deeper personalities that appeal to an older audience, such as Gudetama and Aggretsuko. These characters have enjoyed great popularity as fans are drawn to their quirks as well as their cute aesthetics. The 1980s also saw the rise of cute idols, such as Seiko Matsuda, who is largely credited with popularizing the style. Women began to emulate Seiko Matsuda and her cute fashion style and mannerisms, which emphasized the helplessness and innocence of young girls. The market for cute merchandise in Japan used to be driven by Japanese girls between 15 and 18 years old.
Aesthetics
Soichi Masubuchi, in his work Kawaii Syndrome, claims "cute" and "neat" have taken precedence over the former Japanese aesthetics of "beautiful" and "refined". 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 is acceptable and desirable in Japan.Physical attractiveness
In Japan, being cute is acceptable for both men and women. A trend existed of men shaving their legs to mimic the neotenic look. Japanese women often try to act cute to attract men. A study by Kanebo, a cosmetic company, found that Japanese women in their 20s and 30s favored the "cute look" with a "childish round face". Women also employ a look of innocence in order to further play out this idea of cuteness. Having large eyes is one aspect that exemplifies innocence; therefore, many Japanese women attempt to alter the size of their eyes. To create this illusion, women may wear large contact lenses, false eyelashes, dramatic eye makeup, and even have an East Asian blepharoplasty, commonly known as double eyelid surgery.Idols
s are media personalities in their teens and twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g. as singers for pop groups, bit-part actors, TV personalities, models in photo spreads published in magazines, advertisements, etc. Speed, Morning Musume, AKB48, and Momoiro Clover Z are examples of popular idol groups in Japan during the 2000s & 2010s.Cute fashion
Lolita
is a very well-known and recognizable style in Japan. Based on Victorian fashion and the Rococo period, girls mix in their own elements along with gothic style to achieve the porcelain-doll look. The girls who dress in Lolita fashion try to look cute, innocent, and beautiful. This look is achieved with lace, ribbons, bows, ruffles, bloomers, aprons, and ruffled petticoats. Parasols, chunky Mary Jane heels, and Bo Peep collars are also very popular.Sweet Lolita is a subset of Lolita fashion that includes even more ribbons, bows, and lace and is often fabricated out of pastels and other light colors. Head-dresses such as giant bows or bonnets are also very common, while lighter make-up is sometimes used to achieve a more natural look. Curled hair extensions, sometimes accompanied by eyelash extensions, are also popular in helping with the baby doll look. Another cute fashion with some crossover in "sweet Lolita" is Fairy Kei.
Themes such as fruits, flowers, and sweets are often used as patterns on the fabrics used for dresses. Purses often go with the themes and are shaped like hearts, strawberries, or stuffed animals. Baby, the Stars Shine Bright is one of the more popular clothing stores for this style and often carries themes. Mannerisms are also important to many Sweet Lolitas. Sweet Lolita is sometimes not only a fashion but also a lifestyle. This is evident in the 2004 film Kamikaze Girls where the main Lolita character, Momoko, drinks only tea and eats only sweets.
Gothic Lolita, Kuro Lolita, Shiro Lolita, and Military Lolita are all subtypes, also, in the US Anime Convention scene Casual Lolita.