Papers by VALERIIA MATVEEVA
Kawaii is well known outside Japan-and it seems sells well as well, at least I keep seeing Hello ... more Kawaii is well known outside Japan-and it seems sells well as well, at least I keep seeing Hello Kitty and Teddy bear stationery everywhere, and used not only by children but in Japan it is huge. Consumption is built around the notion of sweet and cute and kawaii, and even the cheapest hyaku yen stores will have a wide range of goods like pastel blue towels, flower prints, animal stickers and rainbow cutlery. Animals have a special place in this kawaii industry, as Kinsella notices: even in real life they are, mostly, cute, and with Disney movies being so popular in Japan the Bamby-like picture on weak, genderless and brightly coloured heroes their cuteness is still enhanced. Fancy stuffed and unrealistic animal pictures are very popular amongst Japanese of all ages and classes and sometimes are seen in the weirdest places. I've been to Asakusa recently and there, right on Kappabashi doori there was an adorable plush kappa (1). As far as I am aware of, in traditional mythology kappas are rather playful creatures, luring travellers to the lakes, drowning and sometimes eating their victims. So it is interesting to see, how through kawaii all the horrifying features are eliminated and only good-natured face and a dish on the head reminds of the original. There are many kawaii spots in Japan, but Sanrio shops and the kawaii heaven, Sanrio Puroland are the most prominent for me. Before I came to Japan I knew Hello Kitty exclusively, but they seem to have more than 60 different characters, and the franchise seems to grow bigger and bigger. Some of their characters are quite specific as Aggretsuko-an adorable red panda who has overwork every single day and shows her true nature as death metal star in karaoke (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvClxgjYJZ4). A friend told me she is more popular in the States, though, and Japanese consumer prefers traditional kind and extremely fluffy characters. For example, Shugar bunnies (2). They are extremely adorable, extremely short and stout-and kind of kowaii after reading the article, for " cute things can do nothing because they are physically handicapped " really did strike me as a truth and now I feel uncomfortable looking at them, though was completely charmed at first. Nevertheless, Sanrio really does personalize their characters, they have names and even date of birth (https://en.puroland.jp/character/sugarbunnies_en/). Names are normally literally sweet (and edible), something like Cinnamoroll, Espresso or Chiffon, and everything from bags to coffee at the place sells really well. Despite its overall commercial purpose, I still feel good about the place, for though the place is Westernized, they have some very traditional things like Hello Kitty kabuki show (3) or Tanabata stands. Though not all kawaii animals are so cute-sometimes, especially in the Harajuku area, they are openly funky. Like this octopus (4). But even despite flashy eyes and creepy appearance, it's quite as well-that is hard to beat.
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Papers by VALERIIA MATVEEVA