'Ambassadors of Cute' take Japanese 'kawaii' to the world

'Ambassadors of Cute' take Japanese 'kawaii' to the world

A 17-year-old high school girl dresses in a style like a character figurine. The garments are by her favorite designer h.NAOTO. Dark punk mixed with frills creates a "mismatch" cute style, she says. (Mainichi)

Whether at a luxury fashion boutique, a clothes store or even a 100-yen shop, the first word out of most young women's mouths the moment something grabs their attention is "kawaii!" (cute!).

And with Japanese characters like Hello Kitty, anime and fashion all gaining popularity abroad, the word "kawaii" is becoming understood across the globe.

A pair of 19-year-olds. One, a dress design student (left), says she longs for the world of artist and manga creator Makoto Takahashi. Her friend (right), an art student, says she has a collection of 40 "cute" outfits. (Mainichi)

So to take advantage of this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nominated three young women as "Ambassadors of Cute" earlier this year. The "ambassadors" are already taking part in events abroad, and will be appearing at the Japan Expo in Paris in July.

And so many different items can elicit the cry -- a glitter-caked T-shirt, an especially frilly miniskirt or a ribbon dress -- and subgenres such as the goth-like "Kimokawa," "Otona Kawaii" (mature cute), "Kawamen" (men's cute) have also appeared, making it even harder to pin down exactly what "kawaii" is.

A pair of economics majors, both 20 years old. The girl on the left says she makes a point of choosing reasonably priced but cute outfits, while her friend says she's going for a "traditional look" in line with the brand "Beams Boy." They say that they feel their stand-out clothing, different use of color and design are cute. (Mainichi)

Answers collected from the streets include "girly things" and "soft fluffy things"; but aside from the conventional image of cute, other answers were dark, frilly "kind of mismatched" clothes, and cheaper, handmade items.

From cheap "Yasu-Kawa," to the sexier "Ero-Kawa" outfits that are paraded around, from the stately "Hime-Kawa" (princess cute) to the monochromatic "Gosu-Kawa" (goth cute), Japanese fashion is growing more and more fragmented.

A 22-year-old hairdresser says he chose this skirt because he hates to dress the same as everyone else. (Mainichi)

So why do these varied styles all earn the moniker of "cute"? Some feel that young women today simply have a poorer vocabulary than previous generations. Another theory is that a common label to describe these fractured styles provides women with a sense of security, and one woman interviewed claimed that "You can feel the cuteness from things that don't change."

It appears that the main line of fashion in Japan is shifting from what's in vogue to what's cute. (By Asuka Watanabe, lecturer in the Department of the Science of Living at Kyoritsu Women's Junior College)