Sundries

I found this on Cranial Jacks & Converse blog and it was so beautiful I had to post it here.  It a collection of artists around the world coming together through the technology of multi-track recording to play together to the great song Stand By Me.  It’s just wonderful:

Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around The World from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

It really builds and grows as more and more artists come in to the song.

**James.

What is Kawaii? Basically it’s the Japanese word for “cute”. It’s pronounced:

Ka (with a long A sound like in KAA)
wa (again, long A sound like in “water”)
ii (just say the letter E Hold this longer then the other two syllables)

Click HERE to hear it pronounced by some very silly guys from the anime “All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku“.

If you see a cute looking cat, called “neko” in Japanese, you can say: “Neko no kawaii desu” which means “The cat is cute”. So why am I making a blog entry about this word?

In Japan the concept of cute has a much larger social meaning then it does in America. We may say “That cat is cute” or  “Look at the cute baby” but it doesn’t go much further then this. The idea of dwelling on the cuteness of something brings up images of being childish.

In Japan there is a more accepting view of cute and many people desire for cute things in all areas such as clothes, cars, electronics, and even food. Yes, it’s not uncommon to have food prepared in a cute way:

Little bunnies and pigs in your bento? Why not?

Here are some examples showing ‘kawaii’ in action as only the Japanese can do it:

(Aruru from the anime Utawarerumono)

(Goth Loli’s)

(Yuki Nagato from Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu)

Even if the original idea or character is not thought of as being cute you can count on the Japanese to come up with a cute version to enjoy.

Traditional Vampire from Nosferatu	Hazuki from Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-
Gaara from Naruto	Cute dancing chibi Gaara

The specific area I’m going to be showing examples from is how kawaii is used in pop music, something you don’t see much of in America. This also gives me the ability to add some more videos to my site. Fun to look at and I don’t have to upload and host the files.

The first few are from Ai Otsuka who I have about three albums from. She has some of my favorite songs that I would call kawaii. Very light-hearted happy songs that make you feel good.

Ai Otsuka -- Chu-Lip

Ai Otsuka -- Frienger

Next is Aya Matsuura. This video is the first I heard of here when I found it on YouTube. The song is called Momoiro Kataomoi, “momo” is the Japanese word for peach so that’s why she is working in a peach canning factory. This is another one of those songs that’s hard to get out of your head after hearing it.

Aya Matsuura -- Momoiro Kataomoi

For pure sugar overload of something being almost sickly sweet and cute I don’t think you can find something more then Kawaii then Sakuranbo Kiss by Kotoko. It’s so over the top I can’t say I really like it but wanted to include it in the list.

KOTOKO -- Sakuranbo Kiss

As you may have noticed, so far all of the artists I’m posting are female. It’s not that this idea of kawaii does not appeal to males but they usually are only on the consuming side and usually don’t try to act cute.One of the most famous all-girl groups in Japan was ZONE which was together from 1999 -- 2005 and which put out about 6 albums, 5 DVD’s, and a large number of very popular singles. They also were more of a rock-pop group and played their own instruments. They were also one of the first Jpop groups I heard of about three or four years ago and I was an instant fan of theirs. This is one of my favorite songs of theirs:

ZONE -- Good Days

I really like ZONE as you just can’t get their songs out of your head, they are so catchy. I also believe that their bassist (Sakae Maiko) is easily one of the CUTEST women I’ve ever seen.  (cute > beauty)

ZONE -- Sotsugyou

One of the most famous Jpop groups in America is Puffy AmiYumi, I like their music but I can’t say it’s a favorite of mine. I do have a few albums of theirs but aside from the title song to the Teen Titans this next clip is the only one I wanted to share:

Puffy AmiYumi-Nice Buddy!

The last clip I had isn’t a music video, it’s a scene from a very funny anime called Ichigo Mashimaro which basically in English means Strawberry Marshmellow. It’s about a group of 4 young girls and one of the girls older sisters.

In this scene one of the young girls called Matsuri-chan has made plans to get together to study with one of the other girls. The other girl is embarrassed about it and doesn’t want all of them to know about it so she asked Matsuri-chan to come over without letting the others find out. She is trying to leave without letting them know why but as Matsuri-chan is a very timid and honest girl she’s very bad about lying.

The older girl, Nobue-chan, is an example of the Japanese love of cute things. Nobue-chan also shows that she has “moe” for cat girls and tricks Matsuri-chan into putting on a cat eared hat, a tail, and little bells. Moe, pronounced “mo-eh” is Japanese slang for a certain type of fetish or desire. Someone can be a moe for girls in maid uniforms or one in glasses. Nobue-chan likes kawaii cat girls. Not in a perverted sexual way but as in:

“Are wa neko no kanojo wa totemo kawaii desu.”
(That cat-girl is very cute.)

Ichigo Mashimaro -- Nya scene

**James