Japanese Cute:
One particularly Japanese trend is known as kawaii, or cute. Both Brian McVeigh and Donald Richie write about the prevalence of cuteness in Japanese culture, saying that “cuteness is not just a fad in the fashion cycle of Japanese pop culture; it is more of a ‘standard’ aesthetic of everyday life” (McVeigh 135) and that “one cannot, in Japan, escape from the cartoon, the comic-book atmosphere, the cute” (Richie 53). Citing a Dr. Takasu (author of The Magnetism of the Heart—Becoming a Cute Woman: Mesmer Explains the 5 Rules for Becoming a Good Woman), McVeigh concludes that there are three major characteristics of cuteness: 1) having features of an infant; 2) arousing a protective instinct in others; and 3) having the desire to be liked (139). McVeigh also provides lists of associations Japanese people have with cuteness, both conceptual (“powerlessness, controllable, controlled, weakness, femininity, cheerfulness and youthfulness”) and concrete (“females, bright colors [especially pink], infants, children, small size and toys”) (142).
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