The words "kawaisa" and "kawaii" have the root word "kawai" which is formed from the kanji "ka" (可), meaning "acceptable", and "ai" (愛), meaning "love". The term kawaii has taken on the secondary meanings of "cool," "groovy," "acceptable," "desirable," "charming" "non-threatening".
Sōichi Masubuchi 増渕聡一 (Masubuchi Sōichi?) in his work, Kawaii Syndrome, claims "cute" and "neat" have taken precedence over the former Japanese aesthetics of "beautiful" and "refined".
Sōichi Masubuchi 増渕聡一 (Masubuchi Sōichi?) in his work, Kawaii Syndrome, claims "cute" and "neat" have taken precedence over the former Japanese aesthetics of "beautiful" and "refined".
