かわいい、キッチュ

The usual translation for「かわいい」is cute.

Japanese people use cute for lots of things; we can hear the word every day. However, cute is not so widely used in English. Generally, cute is used for:

• babies
• young children, especially girls
• older girls, sometimes young women
• some small animals
• some soft toys such as teddy bears or dolls

I often wonder why Japanese society is so obsessed with cuteness. We can see cute cartoon characters everywhere on warning signs and information leaflets, for example. In Britain, cute cartoon characters are used only to target young children.

キッチュ

（かわいい　+　悪趣味　＝　キッチュ）

There is a big difference in culture with the word cute. Many Japanese products and celebrities are described as cute but English speaking people would say kitsch. Of course, everyone has different tastes and many Japanese people cringe at the sight of kitsch Japanese sub-culture, such as schoolgirl pop groups.

So how would you describe this video? Is it cute or kitsch?

If you can't see the video above, please click here to see it on YouTube.