When you hear the expression "Japan's kawaii culture," what do you associate it with?
I associate it with purple, green, whatever hair, nose rings, nipple rings, wherever rings, this obsession with "look at me!" tattoos, wearing sweat pants in a family restaurant, foul language, bad manners, spare tires, to name a few, and thank gawd I'm in Japan and it's kawaii culture.
girls being forced to act all pure, cutesy while at the same time being the object of desire. from a bigger picture, I'd probably say the culture of acting childish, the Japanese sure do love their childhood considering that they had little time to enjoy it.
Anything and Everything. The design of a packet of gum can be “Kawaii”, what you think looks cool, cute and awesome is kawaii and I have yet to see something that’s not “kawaii.” To me, the word has become totally meaningless because it is used non-stop. You get your food, it can be “kawaii”, the message they put on your Starbucks cup can be “kawaii.” Don’t think about it too much or it’ll make you crazy.
Escaping from reality. life is fruity and too peaceful here in Japan is what it resembles other than the petty crimes that happen as as oppose to other countries. It actually a good thing because everyone is mostly peaceful in my opinion and less violence. The kawaii culture has been around for quite some time.
So here we have girls and boys, men and women trying to look nice, cute, etc...
Back home it is everyone trying to pretend they are "special" " individuals expressing themselves" all with a million tattoos, a thousand piercings, spilt tongues ( yes last time I was home the waiter serving me in a restaurant had a split tongue not appetizing to look at and difficult to understand him).
The joke is the more they try to express their "individuality" the more they all look the same.
One big difference is the girls or guys in Japan doing the "Kawaii" thing can at any time stop and change to anything else at any time.
Back home those now covered in tattoos, piercings ( especially those that stretches the holes in their ears), etc... Will have a far more difficult time the day they decide they no longer what those things.
I have a young family member that has a Severus Snape (Harry Potter) tattoo on their arm, think of what that will be like when they are in their 40, 50, 60s.... And people look and ask what or who that is!
I point this out because I actually knew an older man with a Humphrey Bogart tattoo and he would regularly get asked who it was and was it his father or someone in his family? He told me he really regretted getting it as he got older.
So bring on the Kawaii that can end anytime they want.
A wide variety of completely dissimilar things, from grown up women with artificially high pitched voices to small pets and decorated baby clothes, at this point I feel everybody is including anything they consider cute in with the tag and has lost all meaning for me.
Annoying, highly pitched voices, thinking they are cute. Weeaboos. Obsession with girls, often very very young, mimicking adults. Watching too many anime. Thinkink what is in anime is also in real Japan. Childish behaviour. Sound polution. Creating new mascots and "cute" characters for every occasion or situation. Us thinking that kawaii is kawaii, although it really is not.
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Spitfire
Bile.
foreignbrotherhoodarmy
Immaturity, childishness, refusal to grow up, idiocy, warped perceptions of attractiveness, all of those
Kaerimashita
infantilism.
Mark
Incidentally all things I associate with comments on this site.
FizzBit
I associate it with purple, green, whatever hair, nose rings, nipple rings, wherever rings, this obsession with "look at me!" tattoos, wearing sweat pants in a family restaurant, foul language, bad manners, spare tires, to name a few, and thank gawd I'm in Japan and it's kawaii culture.
tamanegi
Japanese middle aged man childs
Speed
Anime dorks.
Arrrgh-Type
Highly pitched, overly saccharine, completely unrealistic voice acting.
Unfortunately, this will even pop up in commercials and advertisements at any time of the day, for seeming any product, so there's no avoiding it.
How can people like that?
kohakuebisu
Some good stuff, some bad. Cartoons, character bentos, high voices, lots of pink and general girliness.
As an example of kawaii as cool, I give you the Hatsune Miku guitar pedal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aveUEZkcQno
Luddite
Cultural and social infantilism.
Toshihiro
girls being forced to act all pure, cutesy while at the same time being the object of desire. from a bigger picture, I'd probably say the culture of acting childish, the Japanese sure do love their childhood considering that they had little time to enjoy it.
Kaerimashita
Mark
Great observation. But what do YOU think of kawaii culture?
bass4funk
Anything and Everything. The design of a packet of gum can be “Kawaii”, what you think looks cool, cute and awesome is kawaii and I have yet to see something that’s not “kawaii.” To me, the word has become totally meaningless because it is used non-stop. You get your food, it can be “kawaii”, the message they put on your Starbucks cup can be “kawaii.” Don’t think about it too much or it’ll make you crazy.
HBJ
A pavlovian overreaction displayed by an unnatural voice pitch and maybe a pattering of the feet and random shaking of the hands.
For an almost similar association, see 'oishii'.
Do the hustle
Childishness, emotional immaturity and a dash of child sexual exploitation.
Antiquesaving
Girls being able to be girls and not told they should act like boys even if they don't want to.
Women that can dress pretty as they please and not being told that they are being "oppressed".
Oxycodin
Escaping from reality. life is fruity and too peaceful here in Japan is what it resembles other than the petty crimes that happen as as oppose to other countries. It actually a good thing because everyone is mostly peaceful in my opinion and less violence. The kawaii culture has been around for quite some time.
Antiquesaving
I have to laugh at the comments.
Go back home and see what it is like.
So here we have girls and boys, men and women trying to look nice, cute, etc...
Back home it is everyone trying to pretend they are "special" " individuals expressing themselves" all with a million tattoos, a thousand piercings, spilt tongues ( yes last time I was home the waiter serving me in a restaurant had a split tongue not appetizing to look at and difficult to understand him).
The joke is the more they try to express their "individuality" the more they all look the same.
One big difference is the girls or guys in Japan doing the "Kawaii" thing can at any time stop and change to anything else at any time.
Back home those now covered in tattoos, piercings ( especially those that stretches the holes in their ears), etc... Will have a far more difficult time the day they decide they no longer what those things.
I have a young family member that has a Severus Snape (Harry Potter) tattoo on their arm, think of what that will be like when they are in their 40, 50, 60s.... And people look and ask what or who that is!
I point this out because I actually knew an older man with a Humphrey Bogart tattoo and he would regularly get asked who it was and was it his father or someone in his family? He told me he really regretted getting it as he got older.
So bring on the Kawaii that can end anytime they want.
¥500 size holes in your earlobes not so easy.
Pukey2
Immaturity, as someone just said.
Lee
hello kitty
virusrex
A wide variety of completely dissimilar things, from grown up women with artificially high pitched voices to small pets and decorated baby clothes, at this point I feel everybody is including anything they consider cute in with the tag and has lost all meaning for me.
BackpackingNepal
Socks up the knees and roll down!
Paul
Moronic behavior
Mickelicious
A developmentally dangerous absence of love.
Robert Cikki
Annoying, highly pitched voices, thinking they are cute. Weeaboos. Obsession with girls, often very very young, mimicking adults. Watching too many anime. Thinkink what is in anime is also in real Japan. Childish behaviour. Sound polution. Creating new mascots and "cute" characters for every occasion or situation. Us thinking that kawaii is kawaii, although it really is not.