Nihon ha subarashii kuni desu!

皆さんこんにちは！宜しく　お願いします！！！

konnichiwa ^_ ..~

hello everyone ^__ I’m Vaida, nice to meet ya =)

hey everyone!

ohayou minna!..just woke up and visited our group..:)

loves to Tochigi-ken Oyama-shi where I had a very nice time between 1st and 29th of July 2008.
Nihonwa sugoi to kawaii desu ne :-)

konnichiwa minna!!

hello everyone! and konnichiwa :)

hello everyone!

konnichiwa :-)

Thanks Noemi. I’d like to introduce you guys to my new cute item . A hand embroidered manekineko laundry bag. It is so cute (^o^)
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22779564

Some great ‘Korean Illustrators’ a 2008 Calendar:

Link

take a look at this video http://www.kirainet.com/%C2%BFpor-que-te-has-enfadado/ is really fun

love cuteness and all things chibi

Have you meet the New San-X Character? Kineizukun!!!!
Be ready for Spring Cleaning in January!!! Japan Style!!!

Kineizukun

Hello everyone! I am a new edufire member. I am so happy that I found this group! I love Japanese zakka & cuteness. I also like to embroider Japanese cute designs.
That tako is my favorite, too. I used to make it from sausage when I was in Japan, and I ate such cute things..ha…ha…By the way, you can see my Japanese cute embroidered stuff here:
http://vijako.etsy.com

Kawaii …. For me, it has to be Stickers, Stationary, All Cute Paper Things! I just love the Japanese Kawaii design! Take a look: http://www.flickr.com/groups/pandascans/pool/

Yeah, I also love taco-san :)
You should use the short sausage and we have a special tool to turn the sausage into a taco-san!

http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:WlNir0YOASV-1M:http://www.tjf.or.jp/eng/content/japaneseculture/images/takosan.jpg

So what kind of Japanese things do you all find “kawaii”? Personally I think takosan for obentos are sooooo kawaii!! I love them! Even though I tried to make them with hot dogs and I failed.. haha It must use some special sausage or something.

Wow Nao! Thank you so much for your definition!!! XD

So..what exactly is this “kawaii culture” in Japan, and when did it begin? Even being Japanese myself, I’m not exactly sure!
That’s because “kawaii” is interpreted in many different ways.
The word “kawaii” comes from an old Japanese word “kahayushi” and dates back to the late 1100s. “Kahayushi” means “shy or embarrassed” and was used to describe the way people felt in front of someone superior or someone with an outstanding quality. This definition gradually changed into “feeling pitiful, or feeling sorry” describing people in front of a better/higher presence.
The word “Kahayushi” changed to “Kawayui”, then to “Kawaii”.
Many people think that “kawaii” is a feeling of sympathy towards something helpless, and finding that helpless thing/person endearing and adorable. I can understand this definition, because lots of Japanese people say “kawaii” to not-so-pretty things too :)
Like E.T. I think most people would agree that ET is not visually beautiful, but still, we think its “kawaii”.

Another interpretation is that “Kawaii” describes the Japanese people’s desire for a spritual harmony in order to avoid the harsh reality. I think this is sort of true, because I say things are “kawaii” when it has a healing/therapeutic appeal to it.

Also, throughout the history, Japanese people have surrounded themselves with many small and detailed goods like the Obi-band for our Kimono. So we say “kawaii” for very little and pretty things to express our endearment.

Today, I think in general, Japanese people (especially girls) use the word “kawaii” when talking about;
1) accessory and clothes (things to decorate yourself)
2) furniture and goods (things you want to place near you)
3) animals (animals you want to have as a pet).
We rarely use “kawaii” to describe food..

And we change the intonation of “kawaii” depending on the situation. It can change to “kawaiiiii” or “kaaawaii”..

Whew…. very difficult to explain because “kawaii” doesn’t have an English translation..I guess that’s why people outside of Japan also say “kawaii” :)

Kawaii inu!!!

hello! where did the cuteness come from! =O

=] xx

Kawaii ne! \ ( ^ – ^ ) /

I’m not actually 100% sure, but the link I posted for wikipedia has a bunch of info on it, I know that it started somewhere around in the 70s hehe

So how did the ‘cuteness’ come about in Japanese culture?

Hi Heathyr! This looks like a neat group!

kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii :)