Kawaii - Definition and Overview

Kawaii (可愛い) is a Japanese term which means cute or (literally) adorable. It can be used to describe animals and people, especially of the younger variety. Typically, a sexy adult person would not be called kawaii except playfully. Things like Hello Kitty (and kittens) fall under this term. In contrast to the west, it is considered healthy even for men to enjoy this sort of cuteness without any threat to their masculinity.

Kawaii is considered to be a female-led youth movement, while critics argue it creates an obsession with youth and cuteness instead of appreciating mature beauty. Some think it also contributes to the acceptance of rorikon fandom.

The term is also widely used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Anomalous Female Teenage Handwriting is an application of kawaii to Japanese handwriting.

See also

• beauty
• bishoujo
• Moé
• cuteness
• wabi-sabi

External links

• Sociologist Sharon Kinsella's analysis of the origins of kawaii (http://www.kinsellaresearch.com/Cuties.html)
• December 1999 Wired article on "Cute Inc." (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.12/cute.html)
• All Things Kawaii, a web site dedicated to everything cute. (http://www.allthingskawaii.net/)

Example Usage of Kawaii