Kawaii 101 with Monsieur Le Bun

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Bonjour mes amis! I have ze new feature for you zis week. As you know, Le Bun is un internationale expert de Kawaii and so I have been instructed to give to you le lectures on kawaii subjects most important. If you have been asking yourself ‘what is zis kawaii, zis amigurumi, zis zakka?’ then you are in ze right place and Le Bun will make all as clear as ze crystal, oui oui!

kawaii101

Today we begin at, well, ze beginning! What is Kawaii?

To put in ze simplest words, ‘kawaii’ is une Japanese word which means CUTE. In Japan, it is being used to mean all things that are cute, from Japanese characters such as Hello Kitty and Rilakkuma to ze Western characters of Disney and Spongebob of le Square Pants. and also Le Bun. Outside of Japan it is more used to be referring to a Japanese style of ze cute.

Below, mon assistant will show to you examples of ze main cornerstones of kawaii, in ze Western and Super Cute Kawaii sensings.

Food with faces
(Cookie softies from she.likes.cute, Food Friends cards from the SCK shop)

Animals pretending to be food
(Icecream Bunny necklace from Cute Plush, Nyan Nyan Nyanko Jumbo Burger Plush from Those Happy Days, )

Robots
(Robot with headphones plush from Shana Logic, Gray Acrylic Robot Necklace from Cherry Boop)

Friendly monsters
(Domokun Play Along Plush from Giant Robot, Totoro Music Box from JList)

Things that are basically insane if you think about them too much
(Hannari Tofu Wolf from From Japan With Love, Hello Kitty Haunted Umbrella cellphone strap from Strapya World)

I hope zis has made everything clear pour vous! If you wish to be knowing more of kawaii history please to read zis Wikipedia article.

I will returnez another time soon with more lecturing. Please to leave une comment if you have ze kawaii subject you wish Le Bun to be explaining. Au revoir!

About the Author

  • Monsieur Le Bun

    Jean-Claude Le Bun IV is a world class kawaii expert who holds a degree from the Sorbunne. When not mangling the English language, Monsieur Le Bun enjoys showing off his luxurious moustache at high class French bistros and skiing in the Alps with his mysterious friend Le Colonel. Monsieur Le Bun retired in 2014, but is threatening to return when he feels up to it.

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Super Cute Kawaii is a daily blog sharing the best of kawaii since 2008. Our small team of writers around the world cover the cutest independent makers, our favourite Japanese and Korean characters, cool shops and events worldwide + DIY crafts, reviews, giveaways, Japan travel tips and lots more!

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