Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v8i3.341Keywords:
kawaii, gender reinforcement, Japanese culture, NSM approach, semanticsAbstract
This paper examines the Japanese word kawaii. Japanese women frequently use kawaii to express positive feelings towards objects or people. Scholars suggest that Japanese women are making kawaii a part of their gender identity. From a linguistic perspective, kawaii is not lexicalised in other languages. Although the kawaii phenomenon has been thoroughly examined, there has been no rigorous semantic analysis. In this study, the framework of the natural semantic metalanguage approach was applied to explicate the meaning of kawaii. The analysis indicates that the core meaning of kawaii is explained as ‘when people see this thing, they can’t not feel something very good, like people often can’t not feel something very good when they see a small child’. The kawaii syndrome reveals a Japanese cultural characteristic that puts emphasis on being ‘gender appropriate’ in society. The analysis has implications for understanding gender construction and expression in non-Western cultures.
References
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Cook, H. M. (1999) Language socialization in Japanese elementary schools: attentive listening and reaction turns. Journal of Pragmatics 31(11): 1443–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00110-6
Doi, T. (1981) The Anatomy of Dependence. Tokyo: Koudansya.
Endo, O. (1997) Onna no kotoba no bunkasi [Cultural History of Japanese Women’s Language]. Tokyo: Gakuyou Syobou.
Frith, K. T., Cheng, H. and Shaw, P. (2004) ‘Race and beauty: a comparison of Asian and Western models in women’s magazine advertisements. Sex Roles 50(1–2): 53–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000011072.84489.e2
Goddard, C. (1998) Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Goddard, C. (ed.) (2008) Cross-Linguistic Semantics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/slcs.102
Goddard, C. (2011) Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction (2nd edn). New York: Oxford University Press.
Goddard, C. (2012a) Semantic primes, semantic molecules, semantic templates: key concepts in the NSM approach to lexical typology. Linguistics 50(3): 711–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ling-2012-0022
Goddard, C. (2012b) ‘Early interactions’ in Australian English, American English, and English English: cultural differences and cultural scripts. Journal of Pragmatics 44: 1038–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.04.010
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Ishii, K. and Jarkey, N. (2002) The housewife is born: the establishment of the notion and identity of the syufu in modern Japan. Japanese Studies 22(1): 35–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/103713902201436732
Ishii-Kuntz, M., Makiko, K., Kato, K. and Tsuchida, M. (2004) Japanese fathers of preschoolers and their involvement in child care. Journal of Marriage and Family 66: 779–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00052.x
Kang, M.-E. (1997) The portrayal of women’s images in magazine advertisements: Goffman’s gender analysis revisited. Sex Roles 37(11–12): 979–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02936350
Kataoka, K. (1997) Affect and letter-writing: unconventional conventions in casual writing by young Japanese women. Language in Society 26: 103–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500019424
Kawamura, Y. (2006) Japanese teens as producers of street fashion. Current Sociology 54(5): 784–801. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011392106066816
Kenkyusha (2002) Kenkyusha’s New College Japanese–English Dictionary. Tokyo: Kenkyusha.
Kinsella, S. (1995) Cuties in Japan. In L. Skov and B. Moeran (eds) Women, Media and Consumption in Japan 220–54. Richmond, VA: Curzon.
Kitayama, S. and Matsuda, T. (1995) Reappraising cognitive appraisal from a cultural perspective. Psychological Inquiry 6: 217–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0603_6
Lebra, T. S. (1969) Reciprocity and the asymmetric principle: an analytical reappraisal of the Japanese concept of on. Psychologia 12(3–4): 129–38.
Lebra, T. S. (1984) Japanese Women: Constraint and Fulfillment. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Lindner, K. (2004) Images of women in general interest and fashion magazine advertisements from 1955 to 2002. Sex Roles 51(7–8): 409–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000049230.86869.4d
livedoor (2012) Retrieved on 10 April 2012 from http://blog.livedoor.jp/randseru
Madge, L. (1997) Capitalizing on ‘cuteness’: the aesthetics of social relations in a new postwar Japanese order. Japanstudien 9: 155–74.
McVeigh, B. J. (1996) Commodifying affection, authority and gender in the everyday objects of Japan. Journal of Material Culture 1(3): 291–312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/135918359600100302
McVeigh, B. J. (2000) How Hello Kitty commodifies the cute, cool and camp. Journal of Material Culture 5(2): 225–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/135918350000500205
Miller, L. (2004) You are doing burikko! Censoring/scrutinizing artificers of cute femininity in Japanese. In S. Okamoto and J. S. Shibamoto Smith (eds) Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology 148–65. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Morris, I. (trans.) (1991) The Pillow Book of Sei Syounagon. New York: Columbia University Press.
Nakamura, K. (2001) Gender and language in Japanese preschool children. Research on Language and Social Interaction 34(1): 15–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327973RLSI3401_2
Nakane, C. (1973) Japanese Society. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Ochs, E. (1988) Culture and Language Development: Language Acquisition and Language Socialization in a Samoan Village. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Okamoto, S. and Shibamoto Smith, J. S. (2008) Constructing linguistic femininity in contemporary Japan: scholarly and popular representations. Gender and Language 2(1): 87–112.
Paris Miki (2012) Retrieved on 25 April 2012 from www.parismiki.co.jp/glasses/champ_de_fleur
Peeters, B. (ed.) (2006) Semantic Primes and Universal Grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/slcs.81
Rakuten Itiba (2012a) Retrieved on 14 April 2012 from http://item.rakuten.co.jp/lapiz/rmnrnd Rakuten Itiba (2012b) Retrieved on 14 April 2012 from http://item.rakuten.co.jp/somsoms/934516
Rodgers, Y. (2007) Women and development. In K. P. Kaup (ed.) Understanding Contemporary Asia Pacific 321–52. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Russell, J. A., and Sato, K. (1995) Comparing emotion words between languages. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 26: 384–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022022195264004
Sakurai, T. (2009) Sekai Kawaii Kakumei [World Kawaii Revolution]. Tokyo: PHP Shinsho.
Schieffelin, B. and Ochs, E. (1986) Language Socialization across Cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Shibamoto, J. S. (1985) Japanese Women’s Language. New York: Academic.
Shibatani, M. (1990) The Languages of Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Skov, L. and Moeran, B. (1995) Women, Media, and Consumption in Japan. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Stevens, C. S. (2011) Touch: encounters with Japanese popular culture. Japanese Studies 31(1): 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10371397.2011.559898
Sugimoto, Y. (2010) An Introduction to Japanese Society. New York: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511781223
Tobin, J. (ed.) (2006) Pikachuu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1992) Semantics, Culture, and Cognition: Universal Human Concepts in Culture-Specific Configurations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1994) Emotion, language, and cultural scripts. In S. Kitayama and H. R. Markus (eds) Emotion and Culture: Empirical Studies of Mutual Influence 133–96. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Wierzbicka, A. (1996) Semantics: Primes and Universals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1997) Understanding Cultures through Their Key Words. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1999) Emotions across Languages and Cultures: Diversity and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511521256
Wierzbicka, A. (2006) English. New York: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195174748.001.0001
Wierzbicka, A. (2010) Experience, Evidence, and Sense. New York: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368000.001.0001
World Economic Forum (2013) The Global Gender Gap Report 2013. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
Yamada Stationery (2012) Retrieved on 18 April 2012 from http://yamadastationery.jp/Keywords/%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8F%E3%81%84%E3%81%84
Yano, C. R. (2009) Wink on pink: interpreting Japanese cute as it grabs the global headlines. The Journal of Asian Studies 68(3): 681–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0021911809990015
Yano, C. R. (2011) Reach out and touch someone: thinking through Sanrio’s social communication empire. Japanese Studies 31(1): 23–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10371397.2011.560262
Yasuike, A. (2011) The impact of Japanese corporate transnationalism on men’s involvement in family life and relationships. Journal of Family Issues 32(12): 1700–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0192513X11406226
Yomota, I. (2006) ‘Kawaii’ ron [Theory of ‘Kawaii’]. Tokyo: Tikuma Sinsyo.
Yukawa, S. and Saito, M. (2004) Cultural ideologies and Japanese language and gender studies: a theoretical review. In S. Okamoto and J. S. Shibamoto Smith (eds) Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology 23–37. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Allison, A. (2006) Cuteness as Japan’s millennial product. In T. Joseph (ed.) Pikachuu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokemon 34–49. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Amazon (2012) Retrieved on 10 April 2012 from www.amazon.co.jp/????-119580-??????-????????/sim/B005XIXE3Y/2
Arima, A. N. (2003) Gender stereotypes in Japanese television advertisements. Sex Roles 49(1–2): 81–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1023965704387
Burdelski, M. and Mitsuhashi, K. (2010) ‘She thinks you’re kawaii’: socializing affect, gender, and relationships in a Japanese preschool. Language in Society 39(1): 65–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404509990650
Clancy, P. M. (1999) The socialization of affect in Japanese mother–child conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 31(11): 1397–421. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00112-X
Cook, H. M. (1999) Language socialization in Japanese elementary schools: attentive listening and reaction turns. Journal of Pragmatics 31(11): 1443–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00110-6
Doi, T. (1981) The Anatomy of Dependence. Tokyo: Koudansya.
Endo, O. (1997) Onna no kotoba no bunkasi [Cultural History of Japanese Women’s Language]. Tokyo: Gakuyou Syobou.
Frith, K. T., Cheng, H. and Shaw, P. (2004) ‘Race and beauty: a comparison of Asian and Western models in women’s magazine advertisements. Sex Roles 50(1–2): 53–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000011072.84489.e2
Goddard, C. (1998) Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Goddard, C. (ed.) (2008) Cross-Linguistic Semantics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/slcs.102
Goddard, C. (2011) Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction (2nd edn). New York: Oxford University Press.
Goddard, C. (2012a) Semantic primes, semantic molecules, semantic templates: key concepts in the NSM approach to lexical typology. Linguistics 50(3): 711–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ling-2012-0022
Goddard, C. (2012b) ‘Early interactions’ in Australian English, American English, and English English: cultural differences and cultural scripts. Journal of Pragmatics 44: 1038–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.04.010
Goddard, C. and Wierzbicka, A. (1994) Semantic and Lexical Universals: Theory and Empirical Findings. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/slcs.25
Goddard, C. and Wierzbicka, A. (2002) Meaning and Universal Grammar: Theory and Empirical Findings. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Goddard, C. and Wierzbicka, A. (2010) Semantics and cognition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science 2(2): 125–135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wcs.101
Goddard, C. and Wierzbicka, A. (2013) Words and Meanings. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199668434.001.0001
Hjorth, L. (2005) Odours of mobility: mobile phones and Japanese cute culture in the Asia-Pacific. Journal of Intercultural Studies 26(1–2): 39–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/075256860500074003
Hotta, M. (2000) Perceived distributions of opinions in young generation and their parents’ generation regarding sex roles. Japanese Journal of Psychology 70: 503–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.4992/jjpsy.70.503
Ide, S. (1982) Japanese sociolinguistics: politeness and women’s language. Lingua 57: 357–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0024-3841(82)90009-2
Ide, S. (1990) How and why do women speak more politely in Japanese. In S. Ide and N. H. McGloin (eds) Aspects of Japanese Women’s Language 63–79. Tokyo: Kurosio Syuppan.
Inoue, M. (2004) Gender, language, and modernity: toward an effective history of ‘Japanese women’s language’. In S. Okamoto and J. S. Shibamoto Smith (eds) Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology 57–75. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Institut St Dominique Lycée (2012) Retrieved on 10 April 2012 from www.dominic.ac.jp/high/04_campuslife/uniform.html
Ishigaki, Y. (2004) Josei-zasshi ‘VERY’ ni miru koufukuna sengyou-syufu-zou [The image of the ‘happy’ housewife as portrayed in the women’s magazine VERY]. NWEC Kenkyu Journal (Journal of the National Women’s Education Centre of Japan) 8: 61–70.
Ishii, K. and Jarkey, N. (2002) The housewife is born: the establishment of the notion and identity of the syufu in modern Japan. Japanese Studies 22(1): 35–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/103713902201436732
Ishii-Kuntz, M., Makiko, K., Kato, K. and Tsuchida, M. (2004) Japanese fathers of preschoolers and their involvement in child care. Journal of Marriage and Family 66: 779–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00052.x
Kang, M.-E. (1997) The portrayal of women’s images in magazine advertisements: Goffman’s gender analysis revisited. Sex Roles 37(11–12): 979–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02936350
Kataoka, K. (1997) Affect and letter-writing: unconventional conventions in casual writing by young Japanese women. Language in Society 26: 103–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500019424
Kawamura, Y. (2006) Japanese teens as producers of street fashion. Current Sociology 54(5): 784–801. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011392106066816
Kenkyusha (2002) Kenkyusha’s New College Japanese–English Dictionary. Tokyo: Kenkyusha.
Kinsella, S. (1995) Cuties in Japan. In L. Skov and B. Moeran (eds) Women, Media and Consumption in Japan 220–54. Richmond, VA: Curzon.
Kitayama, S. and Matsuda, T. (1995) Reappraising cognitive appraisal from a cultural perspective. Psychological Inquiry 6: 217–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0603_6
Lebra, T. S. (1969) Reciprocity and the asymmetric principle: an analytical reappraisal of the Japanese concept of on. Psychologia 12(3–4): 129–38.
Lebra, T. S. (1984) Japanese Women: Constraint and Fulfillment. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Lindner, K. (2004) Images of women in general interest and fashion magazine advertisements from 1955 to 2002. Sex Roles 51(7–8): 409–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000049230.86869.4d
livedoor (2012) Retrieved on 10 April 2012 from http://blog.livedoor.jp/randseru
Madge, L. (1997) Capitalizing on ‘cuteness’: the aesthetics of social relations in a new postwar Japanese order. Japanstudien 9: 155–74.
McVeigh, B. J. (1996) Commodifying affection, authority and gender in the everyday objects of Japan. Journal of Material Culture 1(3): 291–312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/135918359600100302
McVeigh, B. J. (2000) How Hello Kitty commodifies the cute, cool and camp. Journal of Material Culture 5(2): 225–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/135918350000500205
Miller, L. (2004) You are doing burikko! Censoring/scrutinizing artificers of cute femininity in Japanese. In S. Okamoto and J. S. Shibamoto Smith (eds) Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology 148–65. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Morris, I. (trans.) (1991) The Pillow Book of Sei Syounagon. New York: Columbia University Press.
Nakamura, K. (2001) Gender and language in Japanese preschool children. Research on Language and Social Interaction 34(1): 15–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327973RLSI3401_2
Nakane, C. (1973) Japanese Society. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Ochs, E. (1988) Culture and Language Development: Language Acquisition and Language Socialization in a Samoan Village. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
OECD (2012) LMF1.5: Gender pay gaps for full-time workers and earnings differentials by educational attainment. OECD Family Database. Paris: OECD. Retrieved on 26 August 2014 from www.oecd.org/social/family/database
Okamoto, S. and Shibamoto Smith, J. S. (2008) Constructing linguistic femininity in contemporary Japan: scholarly and popular representations. Gender and Language 2(1): 87–112.
Paris Miki (2012) Retrieved on 25 April 2012 from www.parismiki.co.jp/glasses/champ_de_fleur
Peeters, B. (ed.) (2006) Semantic Primes and Universal Grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/slcs.81
Rakuten Itiba (2012a) Retrieved on 14 April 2012 from http://item.rakuten.co.jp/lapiz/rmnrnd Rakuten Itiba (2012b) Retrieved on 14 April 2012 from http://item.rakuten.co.jp/somsoms/934516
Rodgers, Y. (2007) Women and development. In K. P. Kaup (ed.) Understanding Contemporary Asia Pacific 321–52. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Russell, J. A., and Sato, K. (1995) Comparing emotion words between languages. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 26: 384–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022022195264004
Sakurai, T. (2009) Sekai Kawaii Kakumei [World Kawaii Revolution]. Tokyo: PHP Shinsho.
Schieffelin, B. and Ochs, E. (1986) Language Socialization across Cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Shibamoto, J. S. (1985) Japanese Women’s Language. New York: Academic.
Shibatani, M. (1990) The Languages of Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Skov, L. and Moeran, B. (1995) Women, Media, and Consumption in Japan. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Stevens, C. S. (2011) Touch: encounters with Japanese popular culture. Japanese Studies 31(1): 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10371397.2011.559898
Sugimoto, Y. (2010) An Introduction to Japanese Society. New York: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511781223
Tobin, J. (ed.) (2006) Pikachuu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1992) Semantics, Culture, and Cognition: Universal Human Concepts in Culture-Specific Configurations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1994) Emotion, language, and cultural scripts. In S. Kitayama and H. R. Markus (eds) Emotion and Culture: Empirical Studies of Mutual Influence 133–96. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Wierzbicka, A. (1996) Semantics: Primes and Universals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1997) Understanding Cultures through Their Key Words. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1999) Emotions across Languages and Cultures: Diversity and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511521256
Wierzbicka, A. (2006) English. New York: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195174748.001.0001
Wierzbicka, A. (2010) Experience, Evidence, and Sense. New York: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368000.001.0001
World Economic Forum (2013) The Global Gender Gap Report 2013. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
Yamada Stationery (2012) Retrieved on 18 April 2012 from http://yamadastationery.jp/Keywords/%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8F%E3%81%84%E3%81%84
Yano, C. R. (2009) Wink on pink: interpreting Japanese cute as it grabs the global headlines. The Journal of Asian Studies 68(3): 681–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0021911809990015
Yano, C. R. (2011) Reach out and touch someone: thinking through Sanrio’s social communication empire. Japanese Studies 31(1): 23–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10371397.2011.560262
Yasuike, A. (2011) The impact of Japanese corporate transnationalism on men’s involvement in family life and relationships. Journal of Family Issues 32(12): 1700–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0192513X11406226
Yomota, I. (2006) ‘Kawaii’ ron [Theory of ‘Kawaii’]. Tokyo: Tikuma Sinsyo.
Yukawa, S. and Saito, M. (2004) Cultural ideologies and Japanese language and gender studies: a theoretical review. In S. Okamoto and J. S. Shibamoto Smith (eds) Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology 23–37. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Published
2014-10-14
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Asano-Cavanagh, Y. (2014). Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii. Gender and Language, 8(3), 341-359. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v8i3.341
