Cardiff-Japanese Webinar Series: Toby Slade - "Kawaii": The Aesthetic of Cute in Japan
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Toby Slade, Associate Professor School of Design Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building University of Technology Sydney
For the 18th Cardiff-Japanese Lecture, we are thrilled to welcome Toby Slade! Toby, a renowned researcher from the UTS Imagining Fashion Futures Lab, is an expert on Japanese fashion and popular culture. In this talk, he will delve into the historical and sociocultural significance of Japan's "kawaii" (cute) aesthetic and its role as a unique form of social expression and subtle resistance.
Open to all
The Cardiff-Japanese Online Lecture Series aims to share contemporary insights and foster a broader understanding of Japanese society’s diverse cultural contexts. We explore sociocultural aspects of Japanese language and culture for learners, teachers, and researchers interested in Japan. The event is funded by the Japan Foundation, London. Recordings of the Cardiff-Japanese Lecture Series are available to watch on our YouTube channel.
Abstract
The modern kawaii (cute) aesthetic in Japan began in the early 1970s, following a period of political unrest and disillusionment after violent efforts for social change had failed. This era, known as the shirake or “disillusioned calm,” led to new social expressions, including the kawaii movement, which offered an ironic form of resistance. Kawaii’s focus on innocence, careful behavior, and narrow attentional focus carries social and political implications.
Psychologically, kawaii encourages positive emotions and an approach-oriented mindset, fitting well within Japan’s structured society. Additionally, aspects like neoteny and paedomorphism in kawaii fashion are seen as alternative social strategies, subtly challenging traditional norms.
The “cute handwriting” trend, influenced by non-Japanese scripts, allowed youth to express individuality, undermining the seriousness of Japanese language and culture. By adopting kawaii aesthetics, youth were subtly rebelling against patriarchal structures, challenging the seriousness and hierarchy of Japanese society. Brands like Pink House, founded by former revolutionaries, exemplify how kawaii fashion evolved into a dominant, politically symbolic expression of Japanese contemporary culture.
Biography
Toby is a fashion researcher in the UTS Imagining Fashion Futures Lab and an authority on Japanese fashion and popular culture. His current research focuses on the history, contemporary forms and changing meaning of luxury in Japan, revealing shifts in definitions of social value and patterns of consumption throughout history.
Toby joined UTS after more than 16 years at the University of Tokyo and Bunka Gakeun University in Japan. He is the author of two books: Japanese Fashion: A Cultural History (Berg, 2009) was the first English-language book to explore the entire historical sweep of fashion and clothing in Japan, with a particular emphasis on the modernity of Japanese clothing and its implications for contemporary theories of fashion. This work cemented Toby’s reputation as an authority on Japanese fashion history. His second book, Introducing Japanese Popular Culture (Routledge, 2018), looks at fashion as a central component of popular culture.