Alongside "photobomb", one of the new words added to the Collins English dictionary this week was "kawaii". Yet unlike photobomb, selfie or onesie, you're unlikely to know what kawaii means unless you ...

You can trace the word “kawaii” all the way back to the start of the 11th century, when an early form of it, “kawayushi,” which at the time translated more to “having pitiable qualities,” appeared in ...

Hui-Ying Kerr received funding from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) from 2010 - 2013 as part of her PhD research on Japan in the 1980s. This is a true story. One Saturday night, I ...

Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. In the late 1970s, British inventor James Dyson painstakingly refined his design for a new, improved vacuum cleaner.

The Japanese concept of ‘kawaii,’ meaning ‘cute,’ has transcended its cultural origins to become a worldwide phenomenon, captivating audiences across various demographics. At the forefront of this ...