HISTORY OF KAWAII RESEARCH

The original definition of kawaii came from Lady Murasaki’s 11th century novel The Tale of Genji, where it referred to pitiable qualities. During the Shogunate period under the ideology of neo-Confucianism, women came to be included under the term kawaii as the perception of women being animalistic was replaced with the conception of women as docile. However, the earlier meaning survives into the modern Standard Japanese adjectival noun kawaisō “piteous, pitiable, arousing compassion, poor, sad, sorry” (etymologically from “face / projecting, reflecting, or transmitting light, flushing, blushing / seeming, appearance”). Forms of kawaii and its derivatives kawaisō and kawairashii (with the suffix -rashii “-like, -ly”) are used in modern dialects to mean “embarrassing/embarrassed, shameful/ashamed” or “good, nice, fine, excellent, superb, splendid, admirable” in addition to the standard meanings of “adorable” and “pitiable.”

The kawaii culture has an unusual origin story – the invention of the mechanical pencil. In the early 1970’s, mechanical pencils were introduced and widely adopted in schools. Teenage girls in junior high school quickly took advantage of their finely tipped lead, which was so much more delicate than pencils of the past. Girls began to change their writing style. Strokes became much rounder and more childlike. This new handwriting spread like wildflowers and sparked an entire youth movement which still echoes today. Variations of this new handwriting trend included cutesy characters alongside little pictures of hearts or baby animals.

A time before memes and viral anything, this intensely trendy handwriting style spread to popular mangas and took root in advertising campaigns targeting young girls. The first truly kawaii character, Hello Kitty, with her oversized head, cuddly body, and pink bow, was stamped onto a coin purse. She first appeared in 1974. It became the most recognizable character from the kawaii movement. Over time, kawaii became ingrained inalmost all aspects of Japan’s culture. Kawaii has become defined as childlike, cute andtotally non-threatening. Today, this cuteness can be seen throughout Japan. Most corporations have a cute mascot, and even police departments have adorable cartoon logos.

As the economy progressed through the 1970s and 1980s, so did consumer subcultures –and cute as a style began to be expressed through childish handwriting, speech, dress, products, shops, cafes and food. Meanwhile, as Japanese women became more visible at work, so the “burikko” or childlike woman emerged, portraying an innocence and adorability that alleviated the threat of female emancipation, increasing her appeal as a potential marriage partner.