Chapter One Kitty at Home
Kawaii Culture and the Kyarakutā Business
I define kawaii as things that could make me a fantastical world. For example, there are always great dreams that I want to get, but it is impossible to get the dream. Kawaii gives me some hope. I also think kawaii products or persons let me express my maternal instinct. It is limited to girls and women. It is part of our nature. — M. Y., twenty-eight years old, personal communication, February 10, 2005
I personally think that kawaii concept has something to do with an expressionless face. I used to like Hello Kitty and Miffy [a Dick Bruna character] when I was still in junior high school. I especially liked Miffy. She had a no-expression face, but I still thought she was really cute. Stuff I really thought cute all had in common that they have no smile or other expression. Hello Kitty also has no smile or anything. —S. N., thirty years old, personal communication, March 17, 2005
There is some notion of obedience or weakness in the concept of kawaii. We [Japanese] often use the word kawaii for babies and puppies that are smaller, weaker, and thus need to be protected. Kawaii has lots of components of femininity, such as obedience, dependency, and weakness. —T. M., twenty-seven years old, personal communication, March 8, 2005
Basically, kawaii is associated with infancy that covers feelings of the need to protect the object. In other words, kawaii is a symbol of dependency. However, girls started to describe so many things as kawaii recently, so my definition of kawaii changed to include the meaning of “trendy.” —K. A., in her thirties, personal communication, February 8, 2005
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