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July 29, 2025
 

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KAWAII

Originally debuting on a coin purse, Hello Kitty became a national phenomenon in Japan and is now the second highest-grossing media franchise worldwide.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2024
Hello Kitty looks pretty at 50 (and is worth more than ever)
Kitty’s broad appeal, especially to adults, helped popularize the Japanese concept of kawaii (cuteness), which has since become a global trend.
A Hello Kitty fan poses with a costumed character at the Sanrio Smile Shop on its opening day at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California. Hello Kitty marks its 50th anniversary on Nov. 1.
CULTURE
Oct 30, 2024
The 'CEO of supercute': Hello Kitty turns 50
She is the undeniable queen of kawaii culture in Japan — and her likeness continues to make billions for her creators at Sanrio.
Sanrio is marking Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary this year. The character's rise mirrors that of kawaii culture globally, and her longevity offers important clues as to the future of cute culture.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 22, 2024
Hello Kitty turns 50. What will the next cat's meow be?
The global rise of Hello Kitty, who turns 50 this year, tracks that of Japanese culture. What, then, does the next half-century of kawaii have in store?
Cute characters like Pikachu are deeply ingrained in Japanese culture. The global reach of kawaii has contributed to Japan's soft power and international appeal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 26, 2024
What does the global power of kawaii say about us?
Kawaii is one of Japan's greatest cultural exports. But cuteness is more than just a fad or a commercial success story: It's part of our evolution.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 16, 2021
Kawaii, but make it subversive: Japan’s latest fashion is more than its frills
The country's over-20s are embracing cute clothing in a subversive push against adulthood.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 3, 2017
Wonder Woman doesn't need the kawaii treatment
If they did it to Cutie Honey and Fujiko Mine, they can do it to Wonder Woman. I’m talking about the kawaii treatment, which works like a kiss of death to bad-ass super-heroines in Japanese pop culture.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2017
Facebook's Zuckerberg suing to gain rights to Kauai hideaway over undocumented heirs
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has launched a raft of lawsuits that could see the U.S. billionaire secure full ownership of his island hideaway from local Hawaiian families who retain rights over the land dating back generations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 27, 2016
Japan's cult brands get into character
When the topic turns to "Cool Japan" and the various related efforts to capitalize on Japan's indubitable cultural capital internationally, commendation — or more frequently the lack thereof — is easy to come by. The question of how Japan markets its own culture domestically, however, is a largely...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2015
Former Line CEO's new venture aims to track the pulse of world fashion with smartphone videos
Having already spent time in the limelight as the CEO of Line Corp., Akira Morikawa has now started a new venture that targets would-be fashionistas and connoisseurs of popular culture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 7, 2015
From Kyary Pamyu Pamyu to Emoda, Japanese fashion aims to be accessible
Emoda's student style
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 15, 2015
AKB48 turns to an American studio
AKB48’s  commercial success in Japan is often derided as a sign of the culture’s patriarchal infantilization of women, and the girl group’s inability to appeal to Western audiences a sign of Japan’s increasingly isolated ideas about femininity, sexuality and pop music. Put simply: outside of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jul 18, 2015
Project Anime asks the right questions
More than 90,000 attended the 24th annual Anime Expo (AX), North America's largest Japanese pop culture convention, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 2 to 5. The four-day event featured a concert by idol group Momoiro Clover Z, who were joined onstage by two members of veteran American...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jun 20, 2015
Can #socialmedia boost music sales in Japan?
Last week, Line Corp.'s, the operators of Japan's most popular messaging app, launched an in-app music streaming service called Line Music. Japan is the second-largest music market in the world after the United States, but its consumers have so far been global outliers, clinging to physical products...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 9, 2015
Catch the last day of Harajuku Kawaii!!; Undercover is going mad; Ultraman for the everyman
Catch the last day of Harajuku Kawaii!!
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2015
'Kawaii: Cute Girls in Ukiyo-e'
March 1-26
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Oct 18, 2014
Cute has no bounds
A male teacher wearing a nectie stands among female students in a college elevator.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 8, 2014
'Jakuchu's Adorability and Shoen's Beauty: Kawaii in Japanese Art'
Appreciation in Japanese culture of that particular form of attractiveness now known as kawaii (cute) can be traced back in literature to the 10th-century collection of musings known as "Makura no Soshi" ("The Pillow Book"), in which author Sei Shonagan fetes the "beauty" of small children and sparrow...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 16, 2013
Kawaii!! Japan's Culture of Cute
Kawaii!! Japan's Culture of Cute; Manami Okazaki & Geoff Johnson; PRESTEL
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 2, 2013
Let's talk 100 percent kawaii!
Long before the mayor of Shibuya announced pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu as an official ambassador of kawaii culture, Sebastian Masuda, her art director, had been on a mission to spread "kawaii culture" across the world, advocating it as not only a potent source of Japan's emerging soft power, but also...
CULTURE / Books
May 5, 2013
Exploring a world of all things cute and the people who buy them
'Hello, Cutie!' is a cute book about cute things and the (sometimes cute) people who create those things.
Japan to start new residency system for foreign workers
Students hoping to work in Japan attend a Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in October 2022.
Japan to regularly accept assistant language teachers from India
Indian assistant language teachers pose for a photo with Japanese Ambassador Keiichi Ono (center) at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Friday.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
‘Demon Slayer’ movie slashes its own box office records
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” is the first installment in a trilogy that's set to wrap the anime adaptation of Koyoharu Gotoke's manga about sword-wielding heroes fighting man-eating demons.
Kyoto University researchers find mechanism behind malignant pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer, the third-leading cause of cancer death in Japan, has the lowest five-year survival rate of any cancer at just 8.5%.
Amid fossil fuel shift in U.S., hope emerges for India and Japan tie-up on solar
A technician works on the assembly line at a solar panel manufacturing hub on the outskirts of New Delhi last October.
Three decades and a pile of notebooks: The beat writer who chronicled Ichiro’s career
Reporters and photographers, including long-time baseball beat writer Keizo Konishi, swarm around Ichiro Suzuki during the World Baseball Classic in San Diego in 2009.
Behind the scenes: Inside Fuji Rock’s strategy for staying on top
In recent years, Fuji Rock has had fewer blockbuster performers and showcased more top-selling Japanese acts and international musicians' first-time performances in Japan.
Tokyo is the No. 2 choice for international students
The University of Tokyo. International students are increasingly flocking to Asia, with affordability being a particularly important metric.
Japan leans into homegrown AI amid rising competition
McKinsey’s 2025 Technology Trends Outlook, published Wednesday, says that the use of “sovereign AI” is a trend gaining significant global traction, including in Japan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
By Jason Coskrey

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