Kawaii: The History and Reality of Cute and Cool Japan
Anthropology 1100, Brian Pegg
Korina Diamante, 100327877
November 4 2015
Kawaii or ‘cute’ essentially means childlike; it celebrates sweet, adorable, innocent, pure, simple, genuine, gentle, vulnerable, weak, and inexperienced social behaviour and physical appearances (Kinsella, 1995). From a global point of view, it has been associated with a specific kind of Japanese aesthetic of cute that has become a large part of pop culture in the last few decades, branching in every aspect possible from fashion to literature and technology (Borggreen, 2015).
Contrary to popular belief, the culture of cute that has blown up in Japan in recent years is something that is rooted…