Kawaii Culture Essay

Uniqueness of Japanese Idol Groups: Kawaii Culture and Contributions

Japan is a country renowned for its “Kawaii Bunka”, which means the culture of cuteness. Walking down the streets, people may think they have entered and lost themselves in a wonderland of loveliness, because they can discover a wide variety of adorable things including candy with the shape of Sanrio characters, household appliances with colorful polka dot design, and warning signs with round writing on it. Apart from these, Japanese idols, especially the girl idol groups, are also closely related to kawaii culture. Indeed, their style are very different from the idol groups in other countries such as America, and there are games invented based on them like “Love Live! School Idol Festival”, they are even appointed as official

There is a Japanese project called “Love Live! School Idol Project” which has a plot that happens around some girls who want to become idols (Crunchyroll 2017). Based on the concepts of idols and the story line, some manga, anime and video games are designed. One of the project’s games is called “Love Live! School Idol Festival”. Just like the Japanese female idols in real life, the fictional characters in the game also have a kawaii style. For instance, they are young and innocent girls; they wear gorgeous and dreamlike layered bubble dress and anime costume when performing; and all the songs they sing are positive and inspiring. Also, as it is a card game with a mix of genres and elements including management, dressing up, dancing and rhythm, Japanese game developers can allow players to have firsthand experience in raising the characters. As a result, Japan can introduce them to Japanese pop culture, thus attracting the players to embrace the kawaii culture and girl idol groups in Japan and increasing its soft