You can trace the word “kawaii” all the way back to the start of the 11th century, when an early form of it, “kawayushi,” which at the time translated more to “having pitiable qualities,” appeared in ...

A fluffy, doe-eyed kitten adorned with a rainbow and a unicorn horn may, at first glance, stir up images of childishness or innocence. However, this cute creature is more powerful than it may first ...

Hiroshi Nittono receives funding from The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI No. 23330217. However, why cute things attract us and how they ...

Cute—"Kawaii" in local parlance—wears many guises in Japan. There's old-school kawaii, embodied by the helpless, mouthless gaze of Hello Kitty. There's the newer guy-cute, manifest by masses of young ...

With digital overload and constant stress dominating life, soft colours and whimsical objects work like visual therapy. That’s what Kawaii interiors aims to do. When GS Shruti (@shrustudies), a ...

The curated wonderland of cute and viral merchandise sells Sanrio collectibles, anime figures, plushies of all sizes, ...

"Gross" characters are proliferating in a country known for kawaii, and now even local governments' mascots are trying to out-weird one another. Long considered the global capital of cute, Japan is ...

Named for the Japanese term for the sound of an excited heart beating, Doki Doki Kawaii Shop, in all its pastel glory, sits on Lakewood’s Madison Avenue. Kawaii refers to the Japanese culture of ...

“I don’t think it’s to appear to be healthy, it’s purely a style statement,” Tokyo-based French fashion designer Julien David said of activewear’s rise in the country. “The biggest shift in Kawaii is ...

Once upon a time the word cute or " kawaii" in Japanese language and culture referred to an aesthetic that was deemed by the masses to posses the qualities of beauty and refinement. But fast forward ...

The members of Chai can’t stop smiling. On a Wednesday night in early September, the Japanese quartet is making its live New York debut, and their presence is sheer glee. Mana, Kana, Yuki, and Yuna ...