Doraemon themed cake

Walk around with a Mickey Mouse-shaped hat in downtown Tokyo and you’ll feel completely normal — thanks to the magic of Japan’s kawaii culture.

Food servings shaped like animals or comic characters like Doraemon. Hotel rooms fully decorated with the Hello Kitty theme. Teenagers dressing up like manga characters with sparkly faces. Household items in cute cartoon shapes, like the frog spatula.

In Japan, everywhere you go, a lot of what you see makes you want to say out loud: “Kawaii!”

Kawaii, which means cute, loveable or adorable, refers to the quality of cuteness prevalent in Japanese culture.

For tourists, the kawaii culture has also become a major perk in traveling to the country, where the number of
foreign visitors has reached record highs since 2013. For foreigners craving some glee, all things kawaii create a sense of entertainment.

The special thing about Japan’s kawaii culture, which has gained a global fanbase, is the fact that it also infects adults and not just kids and teenagers.

ATTRACTIONS

 There is one place in Tokyo where grown-ups can feel like children once more. In this place, one can recall the magical feelings of having watched Japanese signature animation works from Spirited Away (2001) to My Neighbor Totoro (1988).

Welcome to anime mecca Ghibli Museum, where visitors can learn about the production process behind these Japanese animated movies that have gone global in spreading out the cute culture.

In other parts of Tokyo, amusement parks Disneyland and Sanrio Puroland epitomize kawaii for tourists.

As you walk into Disneyland, it is not uncommon to see children and adult visitors dressed up in Minnie Mouse headpieces, carrying Pooh bags or even wearing Snow White or Rapunzel dresses.

In Sanrio Puroland, many theme rides utilize world-famous characters, such as Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kerokerokeroppi and Badtz-Maru.

There is even Hello Kitty’s castle, where all things are uber kawaii.

In less touristy places, like parks, cuteness is also easily detected. One park in Tokyo near the Roppongi Hills neighborhood, home to a lot of expatriates working in one of Asia’s financial hubs, has colorful playgrounds with robot-shaped toys — thus, explaining its English name Robot Park.

FOOD

Hungry? Have some Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles or make a stop at Disney-themed cafes in Disneyland.

If you just need some snacks, countless food trucks are spread across the Disneyland complex serving popcorn in buckets that take the form of Disney characters, from Winnie the Pooh to Mr. Potato Head of Toy Story and Star Wars’ R2D2.

Nearby the entrance and overlooking the famous Disneyland castle, there is a diner that holds special Disney-themed services. When the theme is Frozen, for example, even a regular hot dog will be transformed into a snowy one with white-colored bread and milky, white sauce that looks like winter and melts in your mouth.

It’s almost the norm for amusement parks to offer kawaii food as cute displays of delicacies are also found in Sanrio Puroland, where the food court offers rice bento (single portion take-out) in the shapes of Hello Kitty, My Melody, Cinnamaroll and many more. The Fujiko F. Fujio museum similarly offers such whimsical creations.

The museum, which holds the works of the man behind the famous Doraemon cat — a robotic cat that can grant wishes — sells uncooked Doraemon-shaped pasta and offers coffee and bento servings in the Doraemon theme.

Speaking of food and bento, the Japanese are also known for preparing their lunch boxes in cute styles, featuring arranged foods in the shapes of popular characters, animals and plants. This bento is popularly known as Kyaraben (kyarakuta bento).

TRANSPORTATION

Cuteness does not stop at public sites and at home. En route to any given location, buses and trains are constructed in a way that will definitely make you turn your head and whisper kawaii under your breath.

Going into Fujiko F. Fujio museum, there is a good chance you won’t miss the shuttle bus from Noborito station in the suburbs of Kawasaki. First, as you walk outside the station, footprints of Doraemon and its human friend Nobita will guide you to the shuttle bus station.

Next, you will see humongous wallpaper prints of Doraemon, Nobita and the gang on the bus. As you enter the bus, the stairs, handles and even the bell you press to tell the driver you’re stopping all have the faces of Doraemon characters.

Beyond that, the public train that heads to Tama Zoological Park in Tokyo is fully decorated with prints of animals, from elephants to tigers, across the train’s body. Around a 2-hour drive from Tokyo in Shizuoka prefecture, a train taking the shape of Thomas the Tank Engine is displayed and is typically fully booked.

KAWAII ALL AROUND

In Osaka, where kids are greatly pleased by the many amusement parks from Universal Studios to Kids Plaza Osaka, a gigantic Lego giraffe as tall as a three-story building greets visitors coming into the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, which shares the same complex as Legoland Discovery Center.

Going inside the aquarium, there is a live video screen showing your face in the body of a fish swimming across the vast ocean before getting eaten by a bigger fish. This type of kawaii experience is also prevalent in Sanrio Puroland, where you can get dolled up in adorable manga dresses on a video screen.

Even outside temples in Kyoto, you can find a lot of food delicacies from the famous green tea ice cream to sweet mochi (glutinous cake) and chewy ball-shaped takoyaki (minced-octopus dough balls) in small, kawaii-decorated stalls surrounding tourist attractions.

Inside locals’ homes, there’s a good chance you’ll find kawaii houseware such as panda doormats, kitten keyhole rings, egg-shaped spatulas and sheep chopping boards.

In train stations, directories and information brochures are designed like comic books, capturing the attention of passengers.

PEOPLE

Not enough kawaii? Go to the kawaii capital of Tokyo, Harajuku, where Takeshita-dori Street is well known globally for hosting out-of-the-box fashionistas who don’t only dress up, but go big in their choices of outfits.

With cotton candy hair, pink rabbit ear hairpieces, rainbow-colored dresses and stockings, and layers of socks — not to mention colorful make-up, earrings and bracelets — a flamboyantly dressed woman is definitely not an outlier in Harajuku.

In less pop culture-heavy spots, like Kyoto, cuteness takes the form of traditional Japanese kimono garments being worn by both tourists and locals alike, with the addition of styled hair and kimono ornaments to go along with the outfit.

— Photos by JP/Esther Samboh

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