By Bruce Rutledge

Is Hello Kitty cute because she has no mouth? Is Pikachu adorable because it doesn’t look like any animal known to man? Is the kawaii subculture in Japan and, increasingly across Asia and North America, a new form of social anarchy connected to the flower power movement of the 1960s? These and many other theories have been put forth by knowledgeable people to help us understand what has become a global phenomenon: the love of kawaii.
Kawaii means “cute” in Japanese. But the special brand of Japanese cute represented by Hello Kitty, Pikachu and Anpanman (a superhero based on a bean-filled pastry) has grown into big business. Whole empires have been built on the backs of kawaii characters with infantile bodies and wide, innocent eyes. Just take a look at Sanrio, which started selling a very modest Hello Kitty vinyl coin purse in 1974. By 2009, Hello Kitty merchandise brought in about $5 billion a year, including $1 billion in North America.
At the new Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle shop in Northgate Mall, a whole section of the store is devoted to Kitty merchandise. The store is bright and alive with bubble gum colors – tiny erasers shaped like cute animals, cakes, ice cream and pastries go for 99 cents; a giant and very laid back Rilakkuma goes for $350. Soap dispensers are shaped like ducklings; Pikachu, Mario, Hello Kitty and Tottoro are all here. It’s a kawaii paradise, and business is strong despite the gloomy recession. The Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle chain, which began in California, has opened four stores in the greater Seattle area this year. Kawaii sells.
But the kawaii subculture is about more than consumerism, believe it or not. It has morphed into a way of life thanks to the innovations of entrepreneurs such as Sebastian Masuda of 6%DOKIDOKI, a Harajuku boutique that delivers the essence of kawaii in brightly colored accessories, fashion items and face-to-face events. “Just like the punk and hippy movements, the anarchism young people need these days comes from the kawaii movement, or happy feelings and a colorful world view,” Masuda tells Ibuki (see the rest of the interview.)
Masuda just finished a world tour to meet devotees of the kawaii movement. At every stop, fans flocked to hear the guru of kawaii talk about fashion, life and spirituality. People drove from L.A. to San Francisco to hear him make the connection between the flower power movement, the punk outcasts of the 1980s and today’s kawaii enthusiasts. Just like the rebels of earlier generations, Masuda posits, today’s kawaii fans don’t want to emulate their parents. “We find value in things ourselves, and some people have found it on the little planet of Kawaii,” he wrote in an email.
While Japan is the mecca of all things kawaii, the art and fashion inspired by the kawaii subculture knows no boundaries. Artists around the world are riffing on the kawaii theme. Here in the Pacific Northwest, notable artists such as Namum(http://www.namu.etsy.com), Yumiko Kayukawa (http://www.sweetyumiko.com) (see articles about Yumiko and Namu) and enfu (http://enfu.com) have brought their own sensibility to the kawaii subculture. What started as a cute vinyl coin purse has turned into a global trend that is influencing fashion, art, and maybe, if Masuda-san is to be believed, the way we live.

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6%DOKIDOKI Brings Happy Anarchy to Youth Culture
Seattle Artist - Yumiko Kayukawa
Seattle Artist - Namu