Kawaii, the Japanese aesthetic of all things cute, has transformed even the most ordinary beverages into charming, smiling characters. What makes a drink drawing kawaii? Think laughing bubbly boba ...

Sanrio recruited Shimizu and other illustrators to create “kawaii” characters at a time when cute, girlish styles were popular in Japan. But the word is used often in Japanese society ...

cute; and on one shoot, we set out to film possibly the most kawaii character of them all: shima enaga – or in English, the long-tailed tit. In Japan, ‘cute’ is a big deal. You might be ...