kawaii. lalaness.


Since the 1970s, cuteness (可愛さ, kawaisa?) has become a prominent aspect of Japanese culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms. Western observers often find this cuteness intriguing and sometimes strange because the Japanese employ it in a vast array of situations and demographics where, in Western culture, it would be considered incongruously juvenile or frivolous (for example, in government publications, public service warnings, office environments, military advertisements, and commer

Cute elements can be found almost everywhere in Japan, from big business to corner markets, national government to ward and town offices. Many companies, large and small, use cute mascots to present their wares and services to the public. For example:
Pikachu, a character from Pokémon, adorns the side of three All Nippon Airways passenger jets
Asahi Bank used Miffy, a character from a Dutch series of children's picture books, on some of its ATM cards
Monkichi, a cute monkey character, can be found on the packaging for one line of condoms .
All 47 prefectures have cute mascot characters
The Japan Post "Yū-Pack" mascot is a stylized mailbox. [4]
The Japan Post also uses other cute mascot characters, for example on stamps.
Each police force in Japan have their own anime mascots, many of which adorn the front of koban (police boxes).
Cute merchandise is extremely popular in Japan. The two largest manufacturers of such merchandise are Sanrio (manufacturers of "Hello Kitty") and San-X. This character merchandise is a hit with Japanese children and adults alike.
Cute can be also used to describe a specific fashion senseof an individual, and generally includes clothing that appears to be made for young children, outside of the size, or clothing that accentuates the cuteness of the individual wearing the clothing. Ruffles and pastel colors are commonly (but not always) featured, and accessories often include toys or bags featuring anime characters.

wikipedia org.