A Postwar Cultural History of Cuteness in Japan by Kumiko Sato

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FRom hEllo KITTY To CoD RoE KEWPIE A Postwar Cultural History of Cuteness in Japan By Kumiko Sato

he cute characters and commercial goods emerging from teenagers and young women? How do we extract values and contemporary Japanese popular culture have morals, or any cultural meanings, from the phenomena Tquickly spread around the globe, capturing wedged in marketing strategies and elusive youth the attention of teenagers and adults, most of subcultures? In this article, I will present an whom were not even considered as target con- overview of the history of cute culture, hoping sumers of these products. Their popularity is to place cuteness in historical, political, and much more than a passing phenomenon of social contexts in order to help teachers and fashion-conscious people looking for the lat- their students build a better understanding est thing. In fact, the steady development of of Japan. cute culture in Japan since the 1970s signals While the visual signal of cuteness has more than even the most avid consumer of an almost universal effect on humanity, peo- “cute” may realize. Cute culture reflects the ple’s reactions to, and definitions of, cuteness changing modes of social, economic, and politi- greatly differ across cultural borders. “Cute cues cal conditions, especially young women’sideas about are those that indicate extreme youth, vulnerability, work and marriage and young male perceptions about harmlessness, and need,”Natalie Angier states, citing sci- their future. Learning about the history and contexts of cuteness entists in her article “The Cute Factor”.4 The concept and culture in Japanese culture, from classical aesthetics to the economic growth of cuteness in modern Japanese language has uniformly been ascribed that led to recession, will help readers understand the many meanings to the single word, kawaii, an adjective fairly similar to the English underlying the seemingly simple concept of “cute.” word, cute. In general use, kawaii is made up of two kanji (Chinese The Shōwa Emperor, who was the symbol of wartime Japan’s mili- characters) that respectively signify “able” ()and “love” (), tary aggressiveness and dictatorship, passed away in 1989, and thousands meaning in combination “lovable.”The same kanji can be used for an- of Japanese people gathered in the front yard of the imperial residence to other adjective, kawaisō, which signifies pitiful or pitiable. Kōjien, the pray for his peaceful rest. Among these people were groups of teenage Japanese dictionary, presents three definitions of kawaii, which are 1) girls, who commented, quite unexpectedly, that the emperor was cute.1 itawashii (pitiable), 2) aisubeki (lovable), and 3) chiisakute utsukushii At the time, this youthful obsession with cuteness seemed mysterious, (small and beautiful). The Japanese idea of cuteness in fact emphasizes the sense of pathos that the powerless and helpless object inspires in The Japanese idea of cuteness in fact the observer’s mind. The emotion of sadness associated with beauty may sound familiar to those who have studied classical aesthetics of emphasizes the sense of pathos that Japan, of which mono no aware is especially representative. Whereas mono no aware arouses pity toward things that are pass- the powerless and helpless object ing, such as cherry blossoms, kawaii suggests a pity for things loved and protected. These two aesthetics point to opposite ends of the spec- inspires in the observer’s mind. trum: people appreciate beauty in falling petals of cherry blossoms or samurai’s death, but do not find dying kittens and babies beautiful. Sei like some sort of psychopathological disease unique to adolescence. Then Shōnagon’s Pillow Book lists things that are utsukushi, an adjective that Hello Kitty, an emblem of cute merchandise, recorded a $96 million profit shares common meanings with modern kawaii, i.e., a baby face written for North and South America in 2002.2 Somewhat perplexed by the suc- on a melon, children wearing baggy kimono, chicks, sparrows, doll fur- cess of “cute,” Business Week Online reported on “Japanese cute” in an ar- niture, bird eggs, glass pots, and the like.5 These are all fragile, small, ticle entitled “In Japan, Cute Conquers All,”3 which was soon followed by and vulnerable things that need the observer’s sympathy and benevo- a flood of articles and news coverage about the rise of Hello Kitty and lence to survive, and it seems that the value of kawaii things lies in the cute characters in North America. Students quickly caught on to this observer’sattachment to the life of the weak object rather than its death. trend. Different cultures have developed different perspectives on cute Youth culture captures student interest, leaving many teachers be- products, and in Japan’s case, the 1970s witnessed the rise of the kawaii hind. In fact, the increased demand for teaching about “cute” has deeply as commercial culture in a way unseen before. This particular cute cul- confused me, even though I have taught courses on Japanese popular ture first formed around stationery goods and handwriting that quickly culture and literature. What do we gain, teachers or students, from re- spread among students in the late 1970s.6 Generally known as maru- searching and studying about this seemingly frivolous culture driven by moji, this round calligraphic style was associated with the emergence of

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Figure 1 An excerpt from Mutsu A-ko’s Days of Roses and Roses (Bara to bara no hibi) published in Ribbon in 1985. Reprint in Mutsu A-ko Jisensh, Volume 1, published by Shōeisha in 1996. In this example you can see the sentiment and imagery of romantic“otome”identity for adolescent girls. certain merchandise in the marketplace, especially mechanical pencils and character-printed stationery. The personalization of the unique What predominates the idol culture of cute handwriting style had close connections with the culture of letter and is women’s pretension to be small children by diary writing among girls.7 Much like today’s Internet and cell phone culture, creating a personal “MySpace” through communication tools means of childish talk, pastel-colored fashion, was the essence of youth culture in this period. Sanrio, the company that began selling Hello Kitty products in 1975, successfully established and their love of cute stationery goods and its business at the intersection of youth culture and commercial goods by developing cute characters for notebooks, pens, and other writing fluffy animals. goods which are called “fancy goods” (fanshī guzzu) in Japanese. Concurrently, the girls’ manga magazine Ribbon invented furoku, The cute fad continued into the 1980s and saturated mainstream a sort of supplement to manga magazines, which normally consisted of culture through popular idol singers, especially Matsuda Seiko.9 Her stationeries and paper folders featuring pretty characters from manga. fashion, hairstyle, speech, and gesture came to acquire the name Illustrations by Mutsu A-ko, whose “otome-chikku” (maiden-tic, a burikko, a term supposedly originating from kawaiko burikko, a child composite of otome translates to maiden and romantic) drawing style or a girl who pretends to be kawaii. Kinsella describes burikko as young of manga crazed girls (see Figure 1), decorated Ribbon’s furoku from people “dressing themselves up as innocent babes” who refuse to be- 1975 until the mid-80s. come adults and take social and familial responsibilities.10 What pre- In the 1970s, the political consciousness of the sixties leftist student dominates the idol culture of cute is women’s pretension to be small movements waned, and cultures of fashion and mass media flourished. children by means of childish talk, pastel-colored fashion, and their To many observers, this change mirrored Japan’s shift from political love of cute stationery goods and fluffy animals. This 1980s trend of idealism to postindustrial consumerism, from men’s ambition to women’s denial to grow up is often represented by the popular term women’s fancy, from the dream of progress to the desire for difference, shōjo, “females between puberty and marriage”11 who provide the cul- and from consumption of things to consumption of images.8 tural model of girls as carefree consumers rather than as producers.12

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A new wave of kawaii arrived with the stem from this revival of “cute” that emerged against the strug- protracted economic crisis. The Hello Kitty gling economy and aging popu- revival happened in the mid-90s when the lation in Japan. The kawaii culture at the value of the Japanese yen fell drastically and turn of the century returned with several variations unseen in the major Japanese banks went bankrupt. 1970s or 1980s . Hello Kitty’s orig- inal tendency for primary colors, such as blue and red, were re- One of the reasons women choose to stay in the interim period of shōjo placed by pink and purple. Char- is the limited range of alternative paths available for women who aspire mmy Kitty, added to the family in to pursue a career after completing education. Women thus embrace 2004 as Kitty’s pet cat, features the harmlessness and innocence of shōjo by enthusiastically consum- gorgeous pink fringed with black ing cute merchandise, while delaying their roles as wives and mothers. lace and Gothic patterns. Espe- The culture of shōjo and kawaii declined toward the late eighties cially observable in the same mi- to early nineties, as Sanrio “fancy goods” disappeared from stores. The lieu is the rise of the subculture first half of the 1990s also saw stagnation in both the idol culture and fashion that combines cuteness anime industry. In the meantime, more self-conscious portrayals of and darkness known as Gothic young women’sidentity associated with kawaii caught critical attention Lolita (see Figure 4). With the in publications such as Yoshimoto Banana’s Kitchen (Kicchin, 1988), horror boom, led by films such as Figure 3 which illustrates a new concept of family from a shōjo’s perspective. Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s Cure (1997) The CD cover of the tango song about three Some representative works of shōjo manga also challenged existing and Shimizu Takashi’s Ju-on (The “dango” (sweet dumplings) brothers from NHK. This children’s song illustrates the funny, yet family norms by portraying daughter figures who refuse to be passively Grudge, 2000), cuteness further warm and intimate, relationship of the three cute and dependent.13 Contrary to the eighties notion of kawaii that came to merge with elements of brothers that may be rare in Japan today, where linked pretentious cuteness with the sense of self-pity, these female horror and violence. The recent the average number of children per nuclear family household barely exceeds 1.0. characters struggle to achieve family bonds and youth freedom, a trend commotion surrounding a cute that set the stage for the nineties revival of kawaii culture. heroine holding a hatchet in When Cicadas Cry (see Figure 5) A new wave of kawaii arrived with the protracted suggests the tension in merging cuteness and horror economic crisis. The Hello Kitty revival hap- in today’s Japanese society. The popular slang, pened in the mid-nineties when the value of kimokawaii that links kimoi (slang for ki- the Japanese yen fell drastically and major mochiwarui, grotesque) and kawaii, also Japanese banks went bankrupt. In 1998, embodies a similar confusion of cuteness. San-X’s character business started with The dancing baby that enthralled global the unexpected success of TarePanda Internet culture around 1997 and the cod character goods (see Figure 2). At the roe Kewpie seen everywhere in Japan same time, media entertainment busi- since 2004 (see Figure 6) are both excellent nesses targeted youth through character-ori- examples of grotesque “cute.” ented marketing methods that cut across While simple cuteness still entices main- media, including anime, games, and manga. These stream consumers, the combining of grotesque ele- media-mix projects, such as Pokemon and Tam- ments with cuteness leads some observers to search for Figure 2 agotchi (a hand-held digital pet), put the characters’ TarePanda, or the drooping panda that is so lazy connections to Japan’scurrent socio-cultural conditions. appeal over story or setting. NHK, the public broad- that it simply lies on the ﬂoor. This lazy panda’s Cute things are cute because they are deprived of power casting system, aired a children’s song about three popularity coincided with the trend word iyashi and independence. The way youth, women, and their (heal, solace) and the nation’s overall mood for sweet rice dumpling brothers, Dango sankyōdai (see ganbaranai, or“don’t work hard.” beloved goods transitioned from the sweet kawaii in the Figure 3), that became the national favorite in 1999. 1980s to the dark kawaii in the 90s is evidence of how Companies that used to promote their formal and serious business style those who used to remain submissive and dependent are now exposing as a marketing strategy, such as NEC (Japan Electronics Corporation), elements of anxiety and uneasiness inherent in their powerlessness.14 NHK, and many banks, began using cute mascots for their advertise- Contrary to the 1980s kawaii as a mechanism of self-pity and escapism, ments in order to soften their public images. In this period of financial the recent kawaii derivatives are more likely to confuse our perception of struggle, the range of “youth” targeted by this cross-media entertain- cuteness vis-à-vis violence, defiance, and ugliness. Some of the best tex- ment and “soft-image” bureaucracy extended especially toward men tual examples are Ekuni Kaori’s novels and short stories, in which many and women in their thirties and beyond, including mothers who had of the female protagonists quietly accept insanity in everyday life. Twin- purchased “fancy goods” in the seventies and eighties and seniors who kle, Twinkle (Kirakira hikaru, 1992), her only work translated into English needed easily accessible icons to handle computerized systems. The so far, disturbs the reader with the heroine, who floats between her twin- cute craze that has spread to the world since the late nineties seems to kling shōjo-like life and various discordances in her marriage to a gay

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man. The best-selling girls’ manga Nana (1999 to the present) also ex- emplifies the duality of contemporary girls’ identity by presenting two protagonists named Nana, a punk rock musician and a sweet, carefree lover of shopping (see Fig- ure 7). Such pervading duality of cuteness implies that more young people, especially girls, refusing to be simply passive and dependent, aspire Figure 4 Figure 6 to defy patriarchal society. Even Gothic-Lolita Hello Kitty cell phone strap Tarako (cod roe) Kewpie, a commercial mascot character for cod roe spaghetti sauce pro- though the paradox of cuteness and charm designed by Takemoto Nobara, a duced by Kewpie Corporation (aka Q.P.Corporation). The TV commercial of this product darkness indicates their still vacillat- leading figure in the Goth-Loli fashion com- shows a number of Tarako Kewpies marching on the street, which is more disturbing than munity.The Gothic Lolita combines Lolita (a cute. Image source: http://www.kewpie.co.jp/tarako/index.html. ing identity, what is clear is that the fashion similar to Rococo-style children’s discrepancies between women’sreal- clothing, represented by pink and white col- ity and patriarchal rules are surfacing ors, puffed sleeves, laces, and ribbons) and at last.15 Gothic (characterized by black or dark col- Figure 7 ors, Gothic symbols and patterns, and some An illustration of the two NANAs from influences from punk rock). In Japan’s stagnating economy, Yazawa Ai’s manga NANA, Vol. 2, Shōjo while women seem to be growing in Beat Manga Ed edition (February 7, confidence, many men are faced with skepticism about the vision of 2006). Although they are best friends, their contrast is clearly shown. Nana success and progress that drove Japan’spostwar period. Nikkei Woman, (left) appears in punk rock fashion, a business magazine for women, reported in 2005 that Japanese men smoking a cigarette. Nana (right) wears are “maidenizing” (otome-ka), increasingly becoming passive and sen- a feminine skirt and scarf, eating an ice sitive about romance and marriage, which results in low marriage rates cream cone. and, the government fears, low birth rates.16 In contrast to the vigorous economic growth periods of postwar Japan, contemporary youth in an economic recession seem more skeptical about the concept of masculinity measured against work and marriage. Popular culture closely mirrors men’sreluctance to “become a man” through the growing popularity of effeminate men in the mass media, ranging from Johnny’s boys to “the prince of knit.”17 Some manga for girls feature otomen (otome-type men who love cute things, sweets, girls’ manga, etc.) while also portraying more masculinized heroines (see Figures 8, 9).18 Contrary to the stereotypical image of Japanese men in the seventies and eighties as corporate warriors, contemporary men seem to be rein-

Figure 5 Figure 8 When Cicadas Cry (Higurashi no Otomen, a shōjo manga written by nakukoroni) is a PC game series Kanno Aya and published in Hakusen- that also turned into anime, sha’s Hana to yume since 2006. The manga, CDs, novels, a Play Sta- image comes from the front cover of tion game, and a live action ﬁlm. Volume 2. Its media deployment contin- ues from 2002 to the present, and sales are promoted through images of violent murders and Figure 9 complex mysteries. The mass Four handsome men who have lost in- media tend to associate mur- terest in career pursuit, commercial suc- ders by youth, especially girls, cess, or heterosexual romance, gather with this character, Rena, who and run a fancy bakery in Yoshinaga wears a Lolita-style white dress Fumi’smanga, AntiqueBakery (Seiyōkottō and hides a hatchet in the back. yōgashiten). In this scene fromVolume 2, The image is the front cover of a two men get excited like “otome” about fan book that analyzes the plot Buche de Noel for Christmas.The manga and characters, published has been serialized in Shinshokan’sWings under the title Character & Ana- since 1999, adapted into TV drama and lyze Book published by JIVE in anime, and translated into English since 2006. 2005.

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Trifling as the culture of cuteness may seem, ited by Lisa Skov and Brian Moeran (Honolulu: University of Hawai`i, 1995). Avail- able online at http://www.kinsellaresearch.com/Cuties.html. it is actually an excellent starting point 7. Kazuma Yamane, Hentai shōjo moji no kenkyū (Studies of Girls' Variant Scripts) (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1989). “Hentai” here signifies varied calligraphic forms, and not the “hentai,”a term often used for sexual abnormality or perversion in both Japan- for students to look at their ese and English today. 8. Eiji Ōtsuka and Shinji Miyadai, Ribon no furoku to otomechikku no jidai: tasogare- personal interests doki ni mitsuketa mono (Ribbon Magazine Supplements and the Age of Otome-Tic: What was Found at Dusk)(Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1995), 66–69. and expand their 9. A number of recorded videos of Seiko singing on TV are available on YouTube. To listen to her 1981 hit song, “Cherry Blossom,” try the following links: horizons to a deeper http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhpi7r5_sn4 and http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=QDbeO5VngzI (accessed February 27, 2009). understanding 10. Kinsella, “Cuties in Japan.” 11. Jennifer Ellen Robertson, Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Mod- ern Japan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 65. of Japan. 12. John Whittier Treat, “Yoshimoto Banana Writes Home: Shōjo Culture and the Nos- talgic Subject,”in Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture, edited by John Whittier Treat, (19) 275–308 (Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press, 1996), 281. 13. The novel Kitchen depicts the relationship of a “family” consisting of an orphaned venting the alternative culture that was once vigorously explored by the college girl Mikage, her male friend, and his father who strives to substitute for his deceased wife. Their awkward communications in the process of creating a “family” most “unproductive” population, i.e., women and children. Cuteness range from finding comfort in Kentucky Fried Chicken to feeling nostalgia in the also has become a key for men who are exploring unconventional gen- electric sound of the refrigerator. Some of the notable examples in shōjo manga der models that exist across paradigms of masculinity and femininity. include Okazaki Kyōko’s Pink (1989), Haruno Nanae’s Papa Told Me (1987–), and The relationship of Japanese culture and cuteness has developed Hagio Moto’s Iguana’s Daughter (Iguana no musume, 1992). on several different levels in the country’s cultural environment. After 14. Inuhiko Yomota, “Kawaii” ron” Chikuma Shinsho (Theory on Cuteness) (Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 2006), 86. defeat in World War II and postwar recovery, Japan’s cultural procliv- 15. For the contexts of cuteness and defiance in today’s American society, see Christine ity toward dependence and indulgence seemed to lead the nation to R. Yano, “Monstering the Japanese Cute: Pink Globalization and Its Critics Abroad” conclude that its political and economic dependence on the United in William M. Tsutsui & Michiko Ito’s In Godzilla’s Footsteps: Japanese Pop Culture States was the key to success.19 This subservient relationship has per- Icons on the Global Stage (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). haps nurtured Japan’s “childish” popular culture.20 The “cute” emperor 16. According to the national statistical agency (Tōkei-kyoku), 72.6 percent of men aged twenty-five to twenty-nine, 47.7 percent of ages thirty to thirty-four, 30.9 percent of at the end of the Shōwa reign could symbolize the nation’s conversion ages thirty-five to thirty-nine were unmarried in 2005. Data were taken from from military despotism to pacifism. Cuteness also mirrors the chang- http://www.stat.go.jp/data/kokusei/2005/sokuhou/01.htm (accessed February 27, ing conditions of culture from the viewpoint of the disempowered, es- 2009). In fact, 2005 was when Japan’sbirth rate dropped to 1.08 percent and the pop- pecially women and children, who are forced to play the roles of ulation began to decrease (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). incapable and subservient dependents on men. The current trend, seen 17. Johnny’s (Janīzu jimusho) is a talent agency that debuted cute boy singers whose development closely corresponds to girls’ culture and cute merchandise. “The prince in the symbiosis of cuteness and aggressiveness, further complicates of knit” is a media star and professional knitwear designer Hirose Mitsuharu, who kawaii as an icon of defiance and resistance of the oppressed groups to is immensely popular among women. traditional gender norms and procreative roles. Cuteness today is a 18. In Japan, women are supposed to like sweets, especially Western cakes and choco- means for expressing identity from the margin of society where pow- lates, whereas men are considered to prefer salty food and meat. erlessness can lead into subversion. Trifling as the culture of cuteness 19. An academic work that best represents this understanding of the Japanese psyche based on interdependence among members of a community is psychologist Doi may seem, it is actually an excellent starting point for students to look Takeo’s The Anatomy of Dependence, trans. John Bester (Tokyo, New York: Kodan- at their personal interests and expand their horizons to a deeper un- sha International, 1973). derstanding of Japan. Teachers in various disciplines will find “cute” to 20. Tolearn more about the arguments on “childishness” of postwar Japan’spopular cul- be a useful critical tool for introducing scholarly approaches to popu- ture in association with Japan’s defeat in World War II, see Hiroki Azuma, Otaku: lar culture and visual media. I Japan’s Database Animals, trans. Jonathan E. Abel and Shion Kono (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009), and Takashi Murakami, Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005). This critical NOTES trend emerged as a counterargument to the common idea that popular styles of con- 1. Eiji Ōtsuka, Shōjotachi no kawaii tennō: sabukaruchā tennō ron (The Cute Emperor temporary Japanese culture stemmed from pre-modern aesthetic traditions, as ex- for Girls: Theory of the Emperor as a Subculture)(Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten, 2003). emplified by Murakami’s own idea of “superflat.” Instead, the identity of Japanese 2. Ken Belson and Brian Bremner, Hello Kitty: The Remarkable Story of Sanrio and the popular culture is seen as evolving in reaction to the US and the West overall. Billion Dollar Feline Phenomenon (Singapore: Wiley, 2004), 107. 3. Brian Bremner, “In Japan, Cute Conquers all,” Business Week Online (June 25, 2002) at http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jun2002/nf20020625_7574.htm (accessed February 27, 2009). 4. Natalie Angier, “The Cute Factor,” New York Times (January 3, 2006): 1 at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/03/science/03cute.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=% KumIKo saTo teaches Japanese at Bowling Green State University. Her recent publi- 22The%20Cute%20Factor%22&st=cse (accessed February 27, 2009). cations include an article on poeticity and shōjo manga in JapaneseLiteraryStudies (2003), 5. Sei Shōnagon (circa. 967–1025) is one of the most acclaimed poets and writers of an essay on Japanese cyberpunk in Comparative Literature Studies (2004), and an article Heian Era. The collection of her essays is translated by Ivan I. Morris under the title, on Japanese concepts of culture and technology in Writing Technologies (2007). Her cur- The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967). rent book project focuses on women’s perceptions of self, sexuality, and gender roles in 6. Sharon Kinsella, “Cuties in Japan,”In Women, Media and Consumption in Japan, ed- popular fiction and visual media of postwar Japan.

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