Date: Wednesday, November 12
Time: 10:00 to 11:30 JST
Format: Online via Zoom
Guest Speaker: Associate Professor Toby Slade, University of Technology Sydney
Title: “Kawaii”: The Aesthetic of Cute in Japan
Registration Link: https://cw3saoj.wildapricot.org/event-6373320
**Members are welcome to register their guests by including their name, and non-members can sign up for the online presentation by indicating who introduced them to CWAJ. As always, the meeting will start with housekeeping matters.**
Summary:
This talk explores the origins of the aesthetics of kawaii and kawaii fashion in Japan from the early 1970s, a period that followed political unrest and student protests. As violent activism lost legitimacy, many young people turned to alternative, often ironic, forms of expression. Kawaii emerged as one such response: not merely a love of cute things, but a subtle challenge to seriousness, hierarchy, and rigid social expectations. From the playful handwriting styles of schoolgirls to the romantic, doll-like clothing of brands like Pink House, kawaii became a language of emotional expression, particularly for young women. Far from frivolous, this aesthetic can be read as a quiet but potent political statement, an ironic, joyful rejection of adult norms and patriarchal values.
Profile:
Associate Professor Toby Slade is a fashion researcher at the University of Technology Sydney and an authority on Japanese fashion and popular culture. His work explores how clothing reflects shifting ideas of social value in Japan, from historical dress to contemporary luxury. After 16 years in Japan, teaching at the University of Tokyo and Bunka Gakuen University, Toby published Japanese Fashion: A Cultural History, the first English-language book to survey Japan’s fashion history in full, and co-edited Introducing Japanese Popular Culture, where fashion is treated as central to cultural identity. He is a founding member of the Research Collective for Decolonialising Fashion and guest editor of Fashion Theory’s special issue on the topic. His current research focuses on rethinking fashion history from a non-Western perspective, including a project on evolving notions of luxury in Japan.
Mark your calendars for the December 3 for Festive GM, which will be held in-person at the KKR Hotel, Takebashi from 11:30 to 14:30 and via Zoom from 11:30 to 12:30 when we will enjoy a holiday medley of entertainment by Lensei, a professional singer who will accompany himself on the piano. There will be prizes for some lucky members
General Meeting Team:
Director: Shigeko Nagaoka
Program Coordinator: Ko Iwata
Meeting Managers: Joan Rodgers Doi and Rina Jiang
Zoom and WA Technical support: Rina Jiang and Rumi Nagashima
Contact: generalmeetingmanagers@cwaj.org
