Shubhangi here writes about Japanese pop-culture and the concept of Kawaii – Kawaii means cute and cute seems to be the all pervading trend in Japan.
She adds – The most popular fallout of Kawaii – the ‘Hello Kitty’ motif, adorns lunch boxes, clothes, office stationary, even kitchen appliances. Pink is the favorite color and several corporates have build multi million yen empires fuelling the Kawaii trend.
There is clearly more to pink than meets the eye. Further in the insightful post, she discussed what “cute and pink” means in the language of gender relations. If pink stands for girl power in Japan, I read that in Thailand, Bad cops to wear pink ‘Hello Kitty’ armbands – that is how female pink is.
“(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps,” Col. Pongpat Chayaphan tells the Associated Press. He says anyone who litters, arrives late or parks illegally will be subject to the unorthodox punishment.
yeah I see the kitty face in many toys and posters here in Bangalore as well.. so I guess kawaii trend has spread far and wide 🙂