Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual Arts
Under the headline of 'Japan Cool', popular culture from Japan has gained a significant role in the global market within the last decade. One of the concepts related to 'Japan Cool' is kawaii, meaning cute and sweet, both as a style and a lifestyle. Kawaii can be seen as visual t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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CBS Open Journals
2013-02-01
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| Series: | The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://rauli.cbs.dk/index.php/cjas/article/view/4020 |
| _version_ | 1811225938167332864 |
|---|---|
| author | Gunhild Borggreen |
| author_facet | Gunhild Borggreen |
| author_sort | Gunhild Borggreen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Under the headline of 'Japan Cool', popular culture from Japan has gained a significant role in the global market within the last decade. One of the concepts related to 'Japan Cool' is kawaii, meaning cute and sweet, both as a style and a lifestyle. Kawaii can be seen as visual trademarks in fashion, manga, animé, and many other parts of popular culture, as well as in visual arts by neo-pop artists such as Murakami Takashi and his associates. However, kawaii as a critical concept, has been flourishing in Japan since the 1980s, and has been the topic of sociological research that stresses the subversive and critical dimensions of the word. This article investigates how artworks can offer an ethnographic account of kawaii as a sign of ambiguity and thus signify important social currents in Japanese youth culture in the decade before 'soft power' became the agenda for official Japan. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T09:16:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e594650fb1e248398251fb0d3e707ca0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2246-2163 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T09:16:34Z |
| publishDate | 2013-02-01 |
| publisher | CBS Open Journals |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-e594650fb1e248398251fb0d3e707ca02022-12-22T03:38:50ZengCBS Open JournalsThe Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies2246-21632013-02-0129110.22439/cjas.v29i1.4020Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual ArtsGunhild BorggreenUnder the headline of 'Japan Cool', popular culture from Japan has gained a significant role in the global market within the last decade. One of the concepts related to 'Japan Cool' is kawaii, meaning cute and sweet, both as a style and a lifestyle. Kawaii can be seen as visual trademarks in fashion, manga, animé, and many other parts of popular culture, as well as in visual arts by neo-pop artists such as Murakami Takashi and his associates. However, kawaii as a critical concept, has been flourishing in Japan since the 1980s, and has been the topic of sociological research that stresses the subversive and critical dimensions of the word. This article investigates how artworks can offer an ethnographic account of kawaii as a sign of ambiguity and thus signify important social currents in Japanese youth culture in the decade before 'soft power' became the agenda for official Japan.https://rauli.cbs.dk/index.php/cjas/article/view/4020Japanvisual artscoolcuteperformance'soft power' |
| spellingShingle | Gunhild Borggreen Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual Arts The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies Japan visual arts cool cute performance 'soft power' |
| title | Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual Arts |
| title_full | Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual Arts |
| title_fullStr | Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual Arts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual Arts |
| title_short | Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual Arts |
| title_sort | cute and cool in contemporary japanese visual arts |
| topic | Japan visual arts cool cute performance 'soft power' |
| url | https://rauli.cbs.dk/index.php/cjas/article/view/4020 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gunhildborggreen cuteandcoolincontemporaryjapanesevisualarts |