Kawaii
Meaning
The term Kawaii comes from the Japanese language, meaning “cute”. It is mainly associated with cute animals, women and pink hearts in pop-culture.
The word usually carries a connotation of smallness, cuteness and innocence. However, the literal meaning of the word translated into English would be more like “loveable” and “pitiable” rather than “cute”.
The “kawaii” aesthetic is also popular in fashion. Women may wear feminine clothing like lacey, pink, ruffled dresses in the style known as Lolita Fashion which is considered “kawaii”.
When you’re feeling kawaii and manly as hell at the same time.
Origin
While the word has been around for a long time, “kawaii” is primarily associated with a popular aesthetic that emerged in Japan around the 1970s and 80s.
This mentioned aesthetic started with Japanese students writing their notes in a more rounded, thin-lined style decorated with hearts, cute animal drawings and other images into their writing.
Capitalizing this popular trend, big companies like Sanrio started selling goods, such as school necessities, lunch boxes, backpacks with designs, which were considered “kawaii”.
Spread and Usage
While the word has been around for a long time, “kawaii” is primarily associated with a popular aesthetic that emerged in Japan around the 1970s and 80s.
This mentioned aesthetic started with Japanese students writing their notes in a more rounded, thin-lined style decorated with hearts, cute animal drawings and other images into their writing.
Capitalizing this popular trend, big companies like Sanrio started selling goods, such as school necessities, lunch boxes, backpacks with designs, which were considered “kawaii”.
External References
- The Conversation – What is kawaii – and why did the world fall for the ‘cult of cute’?
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