Till date, Japan still remains famous for its wealthy cultural history.

Over the years, it has been known as the home of Sake, sushi and Sailor Moon. But of recent, it has started to reinvent itself into something a bit more cuddly and soft. Cultural markers like Kawaii and anime have started to become increasingly popular and based on a search engine analytics printed by the Times of Japan, these have become some of the major interests from Japan all over the world, America inclusive.

The translation of Kawaii from Japanese means cute. But it has a more nuanced definition in its true sense. What kawaii actually means is a weak cuteness, like a little kind of thing. It also encompasses everything that is positive and happy. The phenomenon has started gaining a lot of ground in the west who have been adapting the kawaii culture for many years. But Kawaii, in the year 2015, changed from an aesthetic of mainstream pop culture into a political tool.

The dancing baby which was one of the early memes on the internet came from America but in Japan, it was seen as a prime Kimo-kawaii and gained enough popularity to feature in a Toyota Advert. Another similar example was the comic later turned cartoon, known as Coji-Coji. Although the little character seems cuddly, other stranger looking kinds of characters surrounded it and this show generally transitioned kawaii into a more surreal place.

Kawaii Effect on Arts and Crafts in the U.S

The American Culture has been greatly influenced by that of the Japanese. This is either indirectly or directly from other nations and individuals not living in the United States who or which have been impacted by Japan.

Japan’s Kawaii has influenced the American culture in various disciplines and fields ranging from furniture, architecture, animations, arts and crafts, pottery, ceramics, music, games, and language among a host of others.

In the world of animation, lots of Japanese concepts, icons, characters and terms are quite popular in America and around the globe. Pokémon, Godzilla, Super Mario Bros, Naruto, and so on are very great examples.

Pottery is not left out either, the American pottery owes a lot to Japanese ceramics and one of the main exhibitions that pay homage to this link is at the Syracuse’s Everson Museum of Art.

Regardless of the positive way Kawaii is being used, it may not always be seen as something good. This is the case especially from the perspective of feminist. In the context of fashion especially to a Western audience, Kawai is seen as girly and usually fetishized.

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