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Kawaii (かわいい?, [kaw͍aiꜜi], "lovable", "cute", or "adorable") is the quality of cuteness in the context of Japanese culture. It has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms.

The word "kawaii" originally derives from the phrase 顔映し, which literally means a "radiant face", but more commonly referred to the blushing of an embarrassed person. Over time, the meaning changed into the modern meaning of "cute", and the pronunciation changed to かわゆい and then to the modern かわいい.... It is most commonly written in hiragana, かわいい, but the ateji, 可愛い, has also been appended. The kanji in the ateji literally translates to "able to be loved".

Aetshetics

Kawaii styled luggageSoichi Masubuchi (増淵宗一 Masubuchi Sōichi?), 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 (杉山奉文 Sugiyama Tomoyuki?), author of Cool Japan, believes that "cuteness" is rooted in Japan's harmony-loving culture, and Nobuyoshi Kurita (栗田経惟 Kurita Nobuyoshi?), 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.

Gender perfomance

Japanese women who feign kawaii behaviors (e.g., high-pitched voice, squealing giggles) that could be viewed as forced or inauthentic are calledburikko and this is considered a gender performance. The term burikko (鰤子?) is formed with buri (鰤, literally 'amberjack' a fish), a pun on furi (振, 'to pretend or pose'), and ko (子, 'child'). It was a neologism developed in the 1980s by comedienne Kuniko Yamada (山田邦子 Yamada Kuniko?).

Physical attractiveness

In Japan, cuteness is expected of men and women. There is a trend 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 contacts, false eyelashes, drastic eye makeup, and even have an East Asian blepharoplasty, commonly known as double eyelid surgery.

Idols

Idols (アイドル aidoru?) 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 (tarento), models in photo spreads published in magazines, advertisements, etc. (But not every young celebrity is considered an idol. Young celebrities who wish to cultivate a rebellious image, such as many rock musicians, reject the "idol" label.) Speed, Morning Musume, AKB48, Momoiro Clover Z are examples of popular idol groups in Japan during the 2000s & 2010s.

Cute Fashion

Lolita

Lolita fashion 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

An example of Sweet Lolita fashion in Japan

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. Another subset of Lolita fashion related to "sweet Lolita" is Fairy Kei. Head-dresses such as giant bows or bonnets are also very common, while lighter make-up is also 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. 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 as 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 not only a fashion, but also a lifestyle. This is evident in the movie Kamikaze Girls (2004) where the main Lolita character, Momoko, drinks only tea and eats only sweets.

Products

Kawaii pornographic DVD section, Japan

This concept of "kawaii" has had an influence on a variety of products, including candy, such as Hi-Chew, Koala's March and Hello Panda. Cuteness can be added to products by adding cute features, such as hearts, flowers, stars and rainbows. Cute elements can be found almost everywhere in Japan, from big business to corner markets and national government, ward, and town offices. Many companies, large and small, use cute mascots to present their wares and services to the public. For example:

• Pikachu, a character from Pokémon, adorns the side of ten ANA passenger jets, the Pokémon Jets.

• Asahi Bank used Miffy (Nijntje), a character from a Dutch series of children's picture books, on some of its ATM and credit cards.

• The prefectures of Japan, as well as many cities and cultural institutions, have cute mascot characters known as yuru-chara to promote tourism.Kumamon, the Kumamoto Prefecture mascot, and Hikonyan, the city of Hikone mascot, are among the most popular.

• The Japan Post "Yū-Pack" mascot is a stylized mailbox;they also use other cute mascot characters to promote their various services (among them the Postal Savings Bank) and have used many such on postage stamps.

• Some police forces in Japan have their own moe mascots, which sometimes adorn the front of kōban (police boxes).

• NHK, the public broadcaster, has its own cute mascots. Domokun, the unique-looking and widely recognized NHK mascot, was introduced in 1998 and quickly took on a life of its own, appearing in Internet memes and fan art around the world.

Cute can be also used to describe a specific fashion sense of an individual, and generally includes clothing that appears to be made for young children, apart from the size, or clothing that accentuates the cuteness of the individual wearing the clothing. Ruffles and pastel colors are commonly (but not always) featured, and accessories often include toys or bags featuring anime characters.

These cute cartoon characters are popular in Japan:

• Anpanman

• Blythe

• Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins

• Cheburashk

• Chip 'n' Dale

• Domo-kun

• Doraemon

• Ebichu

• Felix the Cat

• Hamatro

• Happy Tree Friends

• Hello Kitty

Hikonyan

Jibanyan

Kaiketsu Zorori

Kumamon

Mamegoma

• Mameshiba

• Mickey Mouse

• Miffy

• Miss Bunny

• Monchhichi

• Moomintroll

• Musti

• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

• Patamon

• Pikachu

• Pingu

• Popples

• Rilakkuma

• Snoopy

• Sailor Moon

• Stitch

• Tarepanda

• Teletubbies

• Terriermon

• The Public Zoo

• Tom & Jerry

• Totoro

• Winnie-the-Pooh​