Kawaii

The Japanese term “kawaii” is linguistically derived from the phrase “kao hayushi,” which can be literally translated as “one’s face is aglow,” which is often used in reference to blushing, but also alludes to a sense of self-consciousness, dazzling beauty, and (more generally) one’s face.

Those definitional elements aggregate into a term that, in the modern world, typically refers to something that’s just utterly cute in a manner that references a sort of vulnerable, childlike appeal.

This is one of those “you know it if you see it” concepts, and it’s been applied to everything from cartoon characters to pets and clothing and adult film stars; it’s become an aesthetic sensibility that is most consistently found in Japanese cultural exports like anime and manga comics and cartoons, but which is also increasingly applied to products, brands, and even celebrity personae.