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Why are the Japanese so obsessed with the cute?

Some see it as a way of appearing harmless after the second world war – but an infantile delight in frolicking animals dates back to at least the 12th century

6 January 2024

9:00 AM

6 January 2024

9:00 AM

Irresistible: How Cuteness Wired Our Brains and Conquered the World Joshua Paul Dale

Profile, pp.288, 18.99

Joshua Paul Dale is a professor of American literature and culture at Chuo University in Tokyo and a pioneer in what is apparently a burgeoning academic field called ‘Cute Studies’ – or what Damon Runyon might have called ‘Pretty Cute’ Studies, as in ‘“Are You Kidding Me? You Study This?” Studies.

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