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Upcoming Lakeland Lecture to Focus on the Concept of Cuteness

Sep. 11, 2024

On Wednesday, September 18, 7pm, Joshua Paul Dale, an American Literature and Culture professor at Chuo University, will be a guest speaker here at LUJ as a part of our long-running Lakeland Lecture series. Professor Dale has resided in Japan for close to thirty years, and in his new book, Irresistible: How Cuteness Wired our Brains and Conquered the World, published in 2023 by Profile Books, Dale takes readers into the realm of cute studies, which you can learn more about here.

Professor Dale (pictured) took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions before his lecture, which, as always, is open to the general public. For more information, see the poster below. 

You've lived in Japan since the early nineties. From then to now, how has Japanese culture changed, from your perspective? Has it become even 'cuter'?

When I first moved to Japan, the bubble economy had just collapsed. This was hard on a lot of people, but it also led to an explosion of creativity. Fashion is a good example, as young people began to put together their own looks from second-hand shops instead of buying from famous designers. This was pre-internet, so in order to express themselves people had to go out and appear in front of others. Young women became fashion leaders and trendsetters. They were early adoptors of cell phones and heavy users of kaomoji and emoji. Kawaii spread across Japanese society from trends like these.

Would you say it is largely Japan that is obsessed with the idea of 'cuteness' or have you seen this, well, perhaps we can call it a 'philosophy', in other cultures?

Japanese kawaii culture is spreading around the world, but has an especially large presence to Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere in East and Southeast Asia. I think the number of people who like cute things and want to engage with them is rising. There is empirical evidence that cuteness lowers stress, reduces anxiety, etc. so it’s not surprising that it is spreading globally in an increasingly stressful world.

Where do you think 'cute studies' is headed? Is there a way to evolve or develop such a topic?

Cuteness is, as far as we know, a universal emotion felt across the human species. The science of cuteness, which tries to answer questions about what this emotion does to our brain and our behavior, continues to yield valuable insights. Hiroshi Nittono, an experimental psychologist at Osaka University, is a leader in this field. I’m looking forward to seeing how the work of scientists like Dr. Nittono can be integrated into the study of cuteness in culture.

Cuteness also has an increasing presence in everything from toys and video games to music, fashion and social media. Somerset House in London just concluded a landmark exhibition called CUTE, curated by Claire Catterall. The most successful show in the gallery’s history, CUTE showed that more and more people are aware of how cuteness permeates their daily lives and are interested in discovering why. 

Plus, though cuteness has long been dismissed by art critics as a trivial commodity aesthetic, contemporary artists are increasingly turning to it because they feel that it represents the zeitgeist. Cuteness is on the rise, and as Japanese kawaii spreads globally and combines with other cute aesthetics, it will show new power and potential.