Cute Inc.

July 17, 2006 in Consumerism, Culture 'n' Commerce, Youth

I adore Calvin and Hobbes, I think Hello Kitty is an icon and I splurge on grotesque to cute-looking toys from Kidrobot. I thought I was unique in my pursuit of all things iconic and cute — but I’m not alone. The youth in Japan are busy enrolling in Cute,Inc, trying to grab a piece of the cuteness before the trend turns into a fad, cheaply translated by street hawkers. The article suggests that the notion of beauty and beautiful in Japan has become "cute" as opposted to the western, "sexy."
Perhaps this sentence sums up the essence of the quest for cute in Japan:

"Cute is that exclamation from the soul of Japan’s younger generation," much like "soul" or "La Raza," Onishi said.

Food for thought? Hello Kitty inspired credit cards to lure younger kids into becoming financially-savvy (or just spending more money?) Cell-phone charms, toys, and other gadgets now offer a touch of cute, instead of cool.