Culture plays a very important role to reflect a society’s value and norms. It also provides a lot of opportunities for some people who want to create and express their own tastes and world view. Groups that create their own culture display their values, beliefs and rules different from the main culture are called subcultures.Japan has had a great influence over many young generations since the 70s directly and indirectly. Other countries including the United States have been influenced by the Japanese culture in many ways and in different fields and disciplines: food, comics, animation, art, architecture, design, furniture, ceramics, crafts, games, fashion, cinema, theater, literature, music and language.It is not considered a rebellious counter culture, but one that embraces the larger society’s views on togetherness and harmony even political field. Its popularity has now spread throughout the world. The Kawaii subculture’s essence which promotes harmony, peacefulness and cooperation in society has become pervasive and its influence in music, fashion, commercial marketing and even politics has spread throughout the world.
Kawaii is a unique subculture that changed Japan with their nontraditional style and fashions starting in the 1970s. In the beginning, Kawaii had its start not in fashion but in drawings and illustrations. The first Kawaii illustrator is thought to be Yumeji Takehisa (1884-1934). He mixed Western and Eastern art styles using round eyes in his illustrations. In that time of pre-war Japan, though, Kawaii meant people were of lower social status. After the World War II as more illustrators were women, the Kawaii characters had positive traits such as confidence and inner strength which attracted young schoolgirls. In modern Japan cuteness is a very prevalent part of the culture. Cute child-like dress is used more than just a form of expression. The word “Kawaii” is derived from a phrase that means “a radiant face” which refers to the blushing of an embarrassing person. Over time, the meaning has been twisted and replaced the word “cute” in Japan. According to Paul Ratner, “Japanese pop culture features such as ‘Lolita fashion’ is very a popular trend that even Westerners have come to expect it of Japanese girls.” Young women dress in clothes similar to those worn by children in Victorian-era England. Looking like children and dolls they display cuteness and innocence, but there’s also a forbidden sexual connotation. Even men take part in the culture of cuteness. Some shave their legs to look young and male singers and actors have long hair. Young Japanese women prefer a round face with large eyes. Some women want to have roundeyes by wearing large contact lenses. By looking like children they’ve built their own type of fantasy world perpetuating an eternal youthfulness and innocence.
Every subculture has an iconic figure that becomes symbolic of its philosophy of life and Kawaii is no different.One of the most iconic worldwide fictional characters, Hello Kitty, the urban cute fictional character that represents cuteness and success to the prevalence of the Kawaii culture in Japan was first created in 1974. As an icon and artifact of the Kawaii subculture, Hello Kitty, was first drawn by illustrator Yuko Shimizu for the Sanrio Company. This image was first used on a girl’s coin purse and since then has been one of the most valuable commercial manifestations of the Kawaii subculture. The character is thought to represent a 3rd-grade schoolgirl since the original target audience was preadolescent girls. It is a very cute kitten waving but has no mouth. The idea of the character is universal; it is greeting the viewer but has no mouth because it because according to Sanrio she “speaks from the heart. She’s Sanrio’s ambassador to the world and isn’t bound to any particular language”. Since its creation, the target audience of Hello Kitty’s commercial scope has expanded to teenagers, adult women, and men. Hello Kitty is the one of the most popular brands of all time with revenue exceeding $50 billion. Hello Kitty has been used on clothing, toys, anime, and music. There’s even a Hello Kitty jet plane! So the cuteness of Kawaii has a broad-based appeal for its openness for cultures worldwide.Also around this time in the early 70’s, even young Japanese girls began writing in cute style using rounded letters and adding hearts or stars – a sharp break from traditional writing. This was an important development for teens creating a distinct identity.
Kawaii music has its own style. Perhaps one of the most well-known singers of this style is Kyary Pyamu Pyamu. She is most famous for the hit ‘PON PON PON’ made in 2011 and has more than 140 million views on Youtube. This music is full of electronic and visuals effects in the Kawaii style. It is both a strange and cute song and video. For many, it’s a ‘love it or hate it’ type of artistic expression. Some may think it is trivial and really annoying in its electronic sound; others may think it’s artistically on the cutting edge of representing Japanese youth culture. An important subculture is one that provokes sharp opinion whether in favor or against it. Kawaii music definitely fits this definition.
Kawaii plays an increasing role in promoting harmony in Japanese society. People can see signs of it everywhere in fashion, pop-culture, and merchandise. Even staid financial companies have Kawaii mascots. The article “Kawaii: The Japanese Culture of Cuteness” explains why this cuteness is so pervasive: “Some believe it is rooted in Japan’s harmony-loving culture and their desire to avoid conflict.” Being cute is non-threatening and is a sign of being willing to cooperate. The way the word Kawaii is written in the Japanese alphabet means “able to be loved”. This stands in stark contrast to the old image of Japan as a “samurai warrior” culture. American society should more and more adopt the Kawaii aesthetic.
Kawaii has even influenced the political realm by using cuteness and positivity to combat evil, negativity, and extremism in the world. In 2015, as a response to the beheading of two Japanese journalists by ISIS, a character called ISIS-chan was born on social media. Instead of revenge, cuteness was used to combat the widespread propaganda of ISIS. She was a girl dressed in black jihadi garb and described as “a so kind girl with a broad mind, who never hurts anyone in any way. She won’t represent any of your extremist thoughts. ISIS-chan loves melons, not violence.” Although she didn’t succeed in overwhelming the real ISIS presence on social media, ISIS-chan represented the idea that the positivity of Kawaii could combat evil. In that regard, there’s even Kawaii Trump imagery combatting the negativity of the current US President. A popular social media meme has Donald Trump pictured in various Kawaii styles. This is clearly meant as a political criticism and satire of Trump. The imagery portrayed reduces Trump to an infantile, girlish, non-threatening caricature as opposed to his intentionally divisive political self. As we can see the Kawaii subculture and aesthetic is even being used to counter very serious political issues and personalities.
For many decades especially since the 1970’s and 80’s when Japan rose to be the 2nd largest economy at that time, the image of Japanese culture has been that of the Salaryman. They were mostly men but also some women who worked in white collar jobs for very long hours (more than 60 hours per week) for either big corporations or the government bureaucracy. Their life was centered on their work and they had little time for their families. But the widespread image of Kawaii has changed this perception. According to Dr. Sharon Kinsella, a lecturer at Oxford University on Japanese sociology, “cute has become a new national style….It is being used diplomatically and in fine-art circles to promote Japan.” This is a remarkable turnaround in cultural perception of Japan as dull and only concerned about work to a people embracing a form of expression that promotes a harmonious and peace-loving culture.
Kawaii subculture existed in Japan since the early 70s, though its style was evident early in the 20th century. Starting out as cute Westernized illustrations of women, it has influenced handwriting, dress, and music more or less across the globe. Overall, its influence has not only spread into the mainstream in Japan but also it made its way to the West. The Kawaii subculture is an expression of innocence, charm, happiness which is a reflection of Japanese culture which emphasizes social harmony. It has grown into a worldwide phenomenon also influencing commercial marketing, and even politics. Considered a counter-culture phenomenon like the Hippies in the US in the 1960’s, its emphasis on positivity and harmony will have greater and wider and more long-lasting effect.
Japan Transforming Its Innovation Culture by Changing Social Norms, StanfordScholar Finds, 31 Aug. 2016, news.stanford.edu/press-releases/2016/08/31/japan-transforminovation-culture/.
Writers, YABAI. “Japan’s Culture of Kawaii and Its Modern Implications | YABAI – The Modern, Vibrant Face of Japan.” YABAI, yabai.com/p/2698.
education will change me 
Culture plays a very important role to reflect a society’s value and norms. It also provides a lot of opportunities for some people who want to create and express their own tastes and world view. Groups that create their own culture display their values, beliefs and rules different from the main culture are called subcultures. Japan has had a great influence over many young generations since the 70s directly and indirectly. Other countries including the United States have been influenced by the Japanese culture in many ways and in different fields and disciplines: food, comics, animation, art, architecture, design, furniture, ceramics, crafts, games, fashion, cinema, theater, literature, music and language. It is not considered a rebellious counter culture, but one that embraces the larger society’s views on togetherness and harmony even political field. Its popularity has now spread throughout the world. The Kawaii subculture’s essence which promotes harmony, peacefulness and cooperation in society has become pervasive and its influence in music, fashion, commercial marketing and even politics has spread throughout the world.
Kawaii is a unique subculture that changed Japan with their nontraditional style and fashions starting in the 1970s. In the beginning, Kawaii had its start not in fashion but in drawings and illustrations. The first Kawaii illustrator is thought to be Yumeji Takehisa (1884-1934). He mixed Western and Eastern art styles using round eyes in his illustrations. In that time of pre-war Japan, though, Kawaii meant people were of lower social status. After the World War II as more illustrators were women, the Kawaii characters had positive traits such as confidence and inner strength which attracted young schoolgirls. In modern Japan cuteness is a very prevalent part of the culture. Cute child-like dress is used more than just a form of expression. The word “Kawaii” is derived from a phrase that means “a radiant face” which refers to the blushing of an embarrassing person. Over time, the meaning has been twisted and replaced the word “cute” in Japan. According to Paul Ratner, “Japanese pop culture features such as ‘Lolita fashion’ is very a popular trend that even Westerners have come to expect it of Japanese girls.” Young women dress in clothes similar to those worn by children in Victorian-era England. Looking like children and dolls they display cuteness and innocence, but there’s also a forbidden sexual connotation. Even men take part in the culture of cuteness. Some shave their legs to look young and male singers and actors have long hair. Young Japanese women prefer a round face with large eyes. Some women want to have round eyes by wearing large contact lenses. By looking like children they’ve built their own type of fantasy world perpetuating an eternal youthfulness and innocence.
Every subculture has an iconic figure that becomes symbolic of its philosophy of life and Kawaii is no different. One of the most iconic worldwide fictional characters, Hello Kitty, the urban cute fictional character that represents cuteness and success to the prevalence of the Kawaii culture in Japan was first created in 1974. As an icon and artifact of the Kawaii subculture, Hello Kitty, was first drawn by illustrator Yuko Shimizu for the Sanrio Company. This image was first used on a girl’s coin purse and since then has been one of the most valuable commercial manifestations of the Kawaii subculture. The character is thought to represent a 3rd-grade schoolgirl since the original target audience was preadolescent girls. It is a very cute kitten waving but has no mouth. The idea of the character is universal; it is greeting the viewer but has no mouth because it because according to Sanrio she “speaks from the heart. She’s Sanrio’s ambassador to the world and isn’t bound to any particular language”. Since its creation, the target audience of Hello Kitty’s commercial scope has expanded to teenagers, adult women, and men. Hello Kitty is the one of the most popular brands of all time with revenue exceeding $50 billion. Hello Kitty has been used on clothing, toys, anime, and music. There’s even a Hello Kitty jet plane! So the cuteness of Kawaii has a broad-based appeal for its openness for cultures worldwide. Also around this time in the early 70’s, even young Japanese girls began writing in cute style using rounded letters and adding hearts or stars – a sharp break from traditional writing. This was an important development for teens creating a distinct identity.
Kawaii music has its own style. Perhaps one of the most well-known singers of this style is Kyary Pyamu Pyamu. She is most famous for the hit ‘PON PON PON’ made in 2011 and has more than 140 million views on Youtube. This music is full of electronic and visuals effects in the Kawaii style. It is both a strange and cute song and video. For many, it’s a ‘love it or hate it’ type of artistic expression. Some may think it is trivial and really annoying in its electronic sound; others may think it’s artistically on the cutting edge of representing Japanese youth culture. An important subculture is one that provokes sharp opinion whether in favor or against it. Kawaii music definitely fits this definition.
Kawaii plays an increasing role in promoting harmony in Japanese society. People can see signs of it everywhere in fashion, pop-culture, and merchandise. Even staid financial companies have Kawaii mascots. The article “Kawaii: The Japanese Culture of Cuteness” explains why this cuteness is so pervasive: “Some believe it is rooted in Japan’s harmony-loving culture and their desire to avoid conflict.” Being cute is non-threatening and is a sign of being willing to cooperate. The way the word Kawaii is written in the Japanese alphabet means “able to be loved”. This stands in stark contrast to the old image of Japan as a “samurai warrior” culture. American society should more and more adopt the Kawaii aesthetic.
Kawaii has even influenced the political realm by using cuteness and positivity to combat evil, negativity, and extremism in the world. In 2015, as a response to the beheading of two Japanese journalists by ISIS, a character called ISIS-chan was born on social media. Instead of revenge, cuteness was used to combat the widespread propaganda of ISIS. She was a girl dressed in black jihadi garb and described as “a so kind girl with a broad mind, who never hurts anyone in any way. She won’t represent any of your extremist thoughts. ISIS-chan loves melons, not violence.” Although she didn’t succeed in overwhelming the real ISIS presence on social media, ISIS-chan represented the idea that the positivity of Kawaii could combat evil. In that regard, there’s even Kawaii Trump imagery combatting the negativity of the current US President. A popular social media meme has Donald Trump pictured in various Kawaii styles. This is clearly meant as a political criticism and satire of Trump. The imagery portrayed reduces Trump to an infantile, girlish, non-threatening caricature as opposed to his intentionally divisive political self. As we can see the Kawaii subculture and aesthetic is even being used to counter very serious political issues and personalities.
For many decades especially since the 1970’s and 80’s when Japan rose to be the 2nd largest economy at that time, the image of Japanese culture has been that of the Salaryman. They were mostly men but also some women who worked in white collar jobs for very long hours (more than 60 hours per week) for either big corporations or the government bureaucracy. Their life was centered on their work and they had little time for their families. But the widespread image of Kawaii has changed this perception. According to Dr. Sharon Kinsella, a lecturer at Oxford University on Japanese sociology, “cute has become a new national style….It is being used diplomatically and in fine-art circles to promote Japan.” This is a remarkable turnaround in cultural perception of Japan as dull and only concerned about work to a people embracing a form of expression that promotes a harmonious and peace-loving culture.
Kawaii subculture existed in Japan since the early 70s, though its style was evident early in the 20th century. Starting out as cute Westernized illustrations of women, it has influenced handwriting, dress, and music more or less across the globe. Overall, its influence has not only spread into the mainstream in Japan but also it made its way to the West. The Kawaii subculture is an expression of innocence, charm, happiness which is a reflection of Japanese culture which emphasizes social harmony. It has grown into a worldwide phenomenon also influencing commercial marketing, and even politics. Considered a counter-culture phenomenon like the Hippies in the US in the 1960’s, its emphasis on positivity and harmony will have greater and wider and more long-lasting effect.
Works cited
culture/what-is-kawaii.
2015.
https://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/why-do-the-japanese-love-cute-things