An introduction to Kawaii

*WARNING* long, and quite possibly boring post ahead, if you can't finish I completely understand! At least check out the links when you get bored. :) And feel free to scroll down to read my previous post first! Then maybe this one will make sense...

Yet another new thing I have discovered on the wonderful, wonderful Swap-Bot. Kawaii basically means cute. It consists of many different types of items ranging from stationary sets to memo pads to stickers to "plushies" or stuffed things. All of it is Asian, and all of it is super CUTE (or Kawaii).

As I was swapping on SB and reading into my partners profiles this word started popping up everywhere. So, seeing as how I have plenty of time to surf the web at work, I did a little research and found that I too was not immune to the super sweet cuteness of all things kawaii. Some of you are probably familiar with the one brand of Kawaii things that has made it to mainstream US and that is Sanrio, known for the super cute Hello Kitty and my new favorite Kuromi (she is SO cute). The Sanrio stuff is pretty normal and mainstream.

The hard to find stuff is the stuff I really love. This stuff is mainly only available to buy on the Internet or if you actually go to Asia. My absolute favorite are the "stuffies" or little plush things (I got a tofu, yes a tofu in a swap and it is SO cute) and things that have these sayings on them that are translated into English and they come out sounding a little off. OK, so Erin and I were going through some of the memos and papers that I have acquired to write down some of the funny examples, but there are too many to just do a few! So another list is born! Here we go, silly sayings found on my kawaii stationary and loose memo sheets (pieces of paper taken from memo pads):

1. Love my heart-This dream is all what I am. I could have one hope. -found on a memo sheet with a picture of a smiling waffle (this one is my favorite!)
2. Being surrounded by my favorite. These are my favorite. I wonder why I get worried about it? Being surrounded by my favorite.-found on a memo sheet with tiny cartoon drawings of food, hearts, ribbons-trust me this is funny stuff.
3. Delicious time to you. Everyone is loved-found on a memo sheet with a cartoon ice cream soda with a smiley face.
4. I feel comfortable with my heart exhilarated-found on a part of stationary that has a mini (read-3 inches tall) puppy getting into some real cookies with little smiley faces drawn on.

Well, there you have it! Some of the sillier Kawaii.

Well, I am tired of doing this post, it is waaaaay to long. So instead I will just post some links of sites that I like to look at when I am bored, and then you can look too, if you feel so inclined. You can also click on my flickr badge on the right tool bar and see the pictures of all of the kawaii stuff I have gotten so far. I hope you (at least those of you who made it through) enjoyed this mini tutorial on a bit of Asian culture.

Phoophie.com-check out the apple town buttons, I have no idea what I would use them for, but they are so cute! I was thinking making magnets out of them?

Shop Kawaii-all you could ever want in kawaii products right here in one shop!

Q Outlet-this is a good one because they have good sales.

Whew! There you go! A lesson in Kawaii, if nothing else at least I have documented my latest addiction for when i eventually print this sucker out!