Hello Kitty: “Cute” or dark symbol of a society in decline?
Skeptics here say Japan’s pursuit of cute is a sign of an infantile mentality and worry that Japanese culture — historically praised for exquisite understatement as sparse rock gardens and woodblock prints — may be headed toward doom.
Hiroto Murasawa, an expert on the culture of beauty at Osaka Shoin Women’s University, believes that cute proves the Japanese simply don’t want to grow up. “It’s a mentality that breeds non-assertion,” he said.
From CNN.
{ 3 comments }
Rose Byrd 06.20.06 at 1:15 pm
I can easily understand a mentality gradually evolving in Japanases culture that “breeds non-assertion.” After all, look at the negative feedback experienced at Hiroshima and Nagasaki following various Japanses actions that the Japanese Emporer may have thought of as mere “assertiveness” due to hereditary, cultural and/or traditional value systems in the same Japanese cultural environment that produced “sparse rock gardens and woodblock prints.” In other words, “cute” may be safer. As a babyboomer American white female engaged in the high tech industry, I daily receive, at the very least, indirect suggestions that I should present as “cute” rather than capable, “cute” rather than experienced, “cute” rather than accomplished.
“Cute” also serves as very effective protective coloration. Remember Br’er Rabbit? I, too, prefer ascetically landscaped rock gardens, but does mass culture reward this type of traditional beauty with a greater transfer of yen?
David 06.20.06 at 2:22 pm
Indeed, the pressure to conform seems greater in (North) Asian cultures than in Western cultures.
There are numerous stories of how a superior Asian technology or invention was wiped out or otherwise forgotten because the powers that be found it politically inconvenient. Guns are one such example, since it gave (untrained, poor) peasants greater power than an (expensively, trained) armored and mounted warrior. Thus, early gun technology was stamped out in much of North Asia.
The most credible explanation that I have heard about why the Asian cultures did not carry forward the success from their respective Golden eras is that the inventions, technologies, or systems which made them successful were wiped out or simply forgotten by the new ruler(s). This would not have been possible if the (North) Asian cultures hadn’t been so well-organized with the pressure to conform and respect one’s superior. In the West, the “barbaric” nature of city-states and instability of large, centralized political systems (i.e. - “countries”), resulted in a Darwinism that all but ensured useful technologies and ideas would be passed on, whether by choice or not.
(Note that Portland cement, used widely and successfuly by the Romans in large public works projects, is a remarkable and interesting exception to this rule, since it was somehow “lost” during/after the fall of the Western Roman empire and not rediscovered until faily recently.)
As such, I’m afraid the imposed “cuteness” of the Japanese culture is a side effect and tell-tale sign that assertiveness is not widely accepted in Japan. Japan would be (even more of) a mighty economic force if it was not only industrious and efficiency-driven (not in all ways, mind you), but also inventive and risk-taking as well. Much of the same can be said of Korean culture.
Which, finally brings a meaningful question out of this rambling:
“Will Korea realize its goal of surpassing Japan (in terms of per-capita income) through its (budding) entrepreneurial spirit ?”
Already, Korea has come very far (in terms of successful, selective cultural adaption) in such a short time, certainly much faster than Japan.
Cat 06.20.06 at 9:24 pm
RoseByrd,
I think Japanese actions during the years preceding and during World War II went well beyond “assertive” by just about any cultural definition, but you make an interesting point about how “cute” is sometimes used to conceal, lessen or blunt a competitive drive. And, how dominant social systems sometimes only permit the marginalized to achieve success by compromising to present a suitable exterior.
And, David, I agree that the lack of value placed on individual initiative has stifled growth in demonstrable ways in many Asian societies. It remains to be seen whether Korea and other countries find their own way to balance the strong sense of unity and cooperation that exists in their cultures while at the same time creating space for innovation and competition that will allow them to assume a larger role on the world economic stage.
Comments on this entry are closed.