Kawaii is a multifaceted word in Japan. It roughly translates to the word “cute,” but its true meaning goes much deeper than that. It’s not just a word. It is an entire expression and has given birth to an entire culture that has helped balanced a serious and hardworking Japanese society.
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The potential of Kawaii doesn’t just end there. It has the ability to provide the entire world with a myriad of benefits. It can be something that can help change and shape our society for a better world. Let’s check how it can do that.
It Helps Alleviate Stress
Kawaii culture found its home in the Land of the Rising Sun some years ago. This is a land that’s well known for having a strict and overbearing work culture. It’s part of the reason why kawaii culture came into existence in the first place.
The comfortable embrace of kawaii culture helped workers alleviate some of their stress. They could let out all the stress built while working inside the confines of a cubicle by being surrounded by cuteness.
It is an outlet for letting go of the daily pressures of life. In the same way that you would be glad to come home to a furry pet, you would be glad to come home to a cute plushie, anime character, or even dress up like one yourself.
The focus on cuteness takes away from the reality of life. It helps you escape from the harsher side of your day-to-day routine. If you can pretend for a while that the world is a peaceful place filled with happy and cute emotions, that can be your reason to get up from bed the next day.
It’s a proven concept and one that is at least partially backed by science. This makes it a shoo-in for reducing stress, panic attacks, nervous breakdowns, and even suicidal thoughts. That’s something the world can benefit from.
It Brings You in Touch with Your Softer Side
As an adult, you are forced to look at the reality of life. That means being realistic and less hopeful with your thoughts. It means managing your expectations for possible bad outcomes and being hardened enough to handle a failure or two. That’s the law of survival.
But what this actually ends up meaning is that many people end up a bit jaded. Your experience may lead you to have a pessimistic view on life. You can be unnecessarily worried or always expect a bad outcome. It can be hard to reverse that kind of treatment.
Where kawaii culture excels is its ability to make you think in a different light. Instead of thinking like someone that’s cordoned off by their responsibilities, you are given a minor moment of freedom. You get to experience things without the shackles of having to be realistic or worrying about something. For just a moment, you don’t have to be that hardened person that has to make it in this world. You can be someone who enjoys being comforted by cute and endearing things.
It Makes You Enjoy Things Without Judgement
When we are kids, we have no inhibitions about the things we enjoy. We immediately go for what excites us and brings us joy. It can be a soft toy, a fluffy pet, or even something ridiculous like an oddly shaped rock.
That all changes when we grow up. We stop to think about everything before doing it. We only enjoy things that are considered okay to enjoy. Even when there’s something you think you might like, you look over your shoulder to see if anyone’s watching. We are worried about the opinions and criticisms of others and this holds us back.
Kawaii culture is a great way to challenge that kind of mentality. It gives you the framework to enjoy something silly or cutesy without caring too much about judgement. After all, who says you can’t like cute characters or pretty things?
It is a great tool at coming to grips with yourself and shaping you for all aspects of life. If you can sit down to appreciate a cute toy without backlash, that’s probably a good lesson for you to live your life the way you want.
It Lets You Express Yourself Freely
As it stands, there are so many different ways to express yourself. You can do it with the kind of clothes you wear, the kind of movies you like, the things you have laid out on your shelves, and the way you talk.
Despite all this, we choose to play it safe. We only try to like the things that others like and hate the things they hate. When it comes to expressing how we really feel, we shy away from the opportunity.
That’s because there’s a monopoly on how you can act in society. If you play by the rules, you are considered normal. If you branch out, you are considered weird. There is no real middle ground. There’s no encouragement for people to let go of their inhibitions.
By the standards of society, you have to be a well-adjusted, knowledgeable, and respectable adult. If you stray from that path, you aren’t thought of in a positive light.
Luckily, kawaii culture helps reframe this concept. It lets you bring out your true inner feelings without the idea of being considered an oddball. It teaches us that it is okay to be shy, innocent, naïve, embarrassed, vulnerable, or childlike.
It does this by forming its own group of people. This way, you are not singled out as a person. It becomes easier to be silly in numbers. You might get ridiculed for cosplaying as an anime character but not if you are part of a group where everyone else is doing it.