Kawaii
The word Kawaii is a familiar term in Japanese culture. It derives from the phrase Kao Hayushi, which means blushing of the face. The actual meaning of the word has evolved through time. Nowadays Kawaii is translated to cute, lovable or adorable.
The culture of cuteness in Japan started in the 1970s as part of a new style of writing. Many school girls began to write in a rounded style adding random cute pictures (e.g., hearts, stars). This writing style created a lot of controversy as the randomly inserted images made the writing difficult to read.
Some Japanese companies capitalized this trend and started their product marketing using cute designs. The obsession with Cute continued to progress, and nowadays, Kawaii has become a large part of Japanese culture.
