The Lobster Dance

Several older Japanese people have asked me if Americans’ image of Japan is of a “traditional” culture of samurai and geisha. While that may be true for older generations, I think that young Americans’ view of Japan more prominently features Kyoto-exclusive Hello Kitty charms in maiko gear and scantily clad female samurai anime-character figurines being sold on the streets of Akihabara.

A phone strap featuring Hello Kitty as a daruma

The stereotypes of Japanese culture have, of course, changed quite a bit since the war. Of course there’s still “‘traditional’ Japan,” but among young people, there’s also “cute Japan,” championed by Hello Kitty, and “weird Japan”: the Japan of otaku, Akihabara-style, wacky game shows, and Engrish goods. (Frankly, the view of “weird Japan” and the problems therein deserve their own post.) The industry of cute is booming in Japan, and you can’t turn a corner without seeing anthropomorphized or cartoonized EVERYTHING from anpan (Anpanman!) to Buddhist monks (a temple in my region). More on this in a bit.

I have to admit that I, too, have bought into the cute industry. I think part of my new-found love of owning cute things comes from the idea that, in Japan, that which is cute is for everyone, regardless of sex and gender (and, to some degree, class). So maybe Mishima Yukio wouldn’t have had a Hello Kitty phone strap if he were still alive, but ownership of cute things is not limited to little girls, unlike in the US. Many of my male friends and colleagues have a favorite cute character like Miffy and might have a coffee mug to use at work with a cute image of a cartoon panda on it, and no one questions their (cultural) masculinity.

Before I moved here, I associated “cute” with how it is in the States: pink and purple sparkles, princess gear, and cartoon-character goods like Disney lunch boxes and Pokemon backpacks that we’re meant to give up around the age of 12. In Japan, nobody looks at me twice for having a screen-cleaning phone strap that has a cartoon yellow cat saying “Shall we take a break?” on it or my Hello-Kitty-dressed-as-a-ptarmigan phone strap that I bought after I climbed Tateyama. It’s perfectly acceptable–even encouraged–for me to indulge in a little cuteness even though I’m an adult and even though I’m not a particularly “cute” person in terms of fashion or attitude.

Speaking of Tateyama Hello Kitty, a lot of Japanese tourist locations and even municipalities have cute mascots. I can’t say I feel one way or the other about the KDDI AU squirrel, the Hanshin Tigers sports mascot, or the local airport’s anthropomorphized airplane mascot. However, there is one mascot appeals to my reptilian brain in ways I cannot understand: Hikonyan.

Hikonyan is a big white cat in a samurai helmet. It might be because I really like cats or because, like Totoro, Hikonyan is a fluffy, genderless animal with very vague features. Several Japanologists, most notably Sharon Kinsella, have written about how cute things like Hello Kitty and Totoro are appealing because they’re genderless and “helpless”–no fingers or thumbs, no mouths–making them cuddly and non-threatening. I like Totoro because he’s the mascot for Studio Ghibli, but I prefer Miyazaki’s films about adults to the ones about kids. (I like all of them, but I do have my favorites.) I am still ambivalent about Hello Kitty. However, I think Hikonyan might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. And, because Hikonyan apparently pushes at centers in my brain in the way that advertising agencies hope to appeal subconsciously to their potential customers, ever since I laid eyes on a tourism poster for Hikone Castle featuring Hikonyan, I’ve kind of wanted to go to Hikone Castle. Of course, it’s not that far from Kyoto, and, in some ways, neither am I; going to that castle was on my to-do list already. However, Hikonyan kind of sealed the deal for me. Even its name is cute! Hiko is from Hikone, of course, and nyan is a sound a cat makes (meow is nyao in Japanese, which can become “corrupted” into nyan.)

On the other hand, as someone who studied media studies at university and grad school, I’m somewhat bothered that the creator of Hikonyan has managed to push my SO!CUTE!WANT! button. Magazine ads directed at women don’t make me subconsciously think that if I wear this lipstick or that perfume, I’ll be more desirable. Ads regarding household cleaners and meal mixes make me want to run screaming from the room instead of buying the product. But Hikonyan seems warm, cuddly, and comforting, like your favorite stuffed animal from childhood combined with your most affectionate cat.

Kinsella would probably call me childish for my inexplicable love of Hikonyan. She writes,

By acting childish Japanese youth tried to avoid the conservative’s moral demand that they exercise self-discipline (enryo) and responsibility (sekinin) and tolerate (gaman) severe conditions (kuro, kudo) whilst working hard (doryoku) in order to repay their obligation (giri, on) to society. Rather than working hard cuties seem to just wanted to play and ignore the rest of society completely. (1995)

But what about those of us out there who just want a little bit of cute to get us through the day? I work hard at my job and at studying Japanese; I stress about the JLPT and my upcoming driver’s license exam (to get the Japanese license I’ll need to continue driving in year 2). I love to escape my everyday life by traveling and with entertainment. But, at the same time, I don’t want to play all the time. I love my job, and, most of the time, I enjoy my lifestyle, because they’re challenging. Even when I go on vacation, I like to do challenging things like hiking and kayaking. But, when life is 辛い, having something cute to hold or look at allows me to 我慢 and continue to work hard. I’m not hiding from life; sometimes I just need something cute to help me enjoy it more.