The article describes what “kawaii” is, what language the word came from, how and by whom it is used in our time.
Tongue
In any living language that people actively use, over time completely new words appear. This process is absolutely natural, and almost all languages are subject to it. Although there are some countries that intentionally do not allow distortion of their colloquial speech, inventing “domestic” analogues to all foreign definitions.
If we consider the Russian language, then over the past ten years, a lot of similar words have appeared in it. By the way, the Internet played a big role in this. In the network space, no one restricts people in communication or on a linguistic basis, and Russian “users” and especially young people over time absorbed a lot of verbal borrowings and expressions from other languages. Japanese culture, or rather, anime - graphic films, had a very strong influence. It is thanks to him that such words as chan (a sweet girl of a young age), kun (guy) and kawai entered the everyday life of a young (and not only) generation. But what is kawai? We’ll talk about this.
Origin
This word came to us from the Japanese language, it means "cute", "very pretty." Previously, before its wide distribution, they used it mainly in relation to what causes pity, the desire to protect and regret. So now we know what kawaii is.
Simply put, in Japanese language and culture this is a peculiar concept of a subjective kind, describing some kind of object or person, which a single individual considers very cute, charming or touching. But sometimes it is used by native speakers in order to describe an adult who behaves like a child or not in accordance with his true age. As you can see, this Japanese word has several meanings at once.
Widespread use
But why didn’t other similar words of foreign languages become so widespread all over the world?
It is all about Japanese culture, or rather, its modern manifestations. Japanese culture in itself is very interesting and peculiar, for many centuries it was not affected by the influence of the West, as a result of which many of its manifestations, however, like the mentality of the Japanese themselves, seem to foreigners very unusual and unlike Western ones. And one of its characteristic features is the deliberate imparting of things, toys, clothes and the very behavior of tenderness and everything else that can be considered cute. And as we already know, this Japanese word just means "cute."
This expression can often be heard in Japan itself, tourists are often surprised that the Japanese resort to such a “kawaii” aesthetics in spite of gender, age and social status in so many such things that in Western culture would be considered completely inappropriate, too childish and even infantile.
This is manifested not only in the behavior of ordinary residents of Japan, but also in industries such as the media, advertising, logos and more. So now we know what kawaii is.
Spread
If we talk about where in Japan you can see manifestations of “cavalry”, then this is practically all spheres of life. These are municipal institutions, shops, advertising. And by the way, many companies have their own "kawaii" talismans, for example:
- Pikachu, one of the characters in the animated series "Pokemon", is depicted on several aircraft of one of the Japanese passenger airlines.
- Most police units also have their own similar charms, which are sometimes located on police booths.
- All prefectures in Japan have their own "kawaii" mascot characters.
Souvenir products of this kind are very popular in Japan, however, it is bought not only by foreigners, but also by the inhabitants of this country, both children and adults. Also, this word is often applied to clothing, its style and style, usually when it has an emphasized childish style. Including the so-called various accessories with drawings or depicting characters of Japanese cartoons.
True, some Japanese people have a negative attitude to this concept and its manifestations, considering it too childish or even a sign of an infantile mindset of an adult.
Now we know the meaning of the word kawai.
Use in Russia
Such cute products and the concept itself gradually spread beyond Japan, both to Western and other Asian countries. For example, it is popular in South Korea and China. In Russia, anime played a big role in this, and gradually this word became firmly established in the everyday life of most young people. True, in our country, in pronunciation and spelling, its simplified form “kawaii” is used instead of “kawaii”, and in the slang of anime lovers and youth in general, the word “kawaii” appeared. What is it, and we now know its translation from Japanese.