Things I like - 7- Kawaii Stuff and Japan

Those who know me will know I have a minor obsession with anything Japanese or generally kawaii. Kawaii means cute in Japanese and the word tends to be used to describe things such as cartoons of food with faces, miniature items or plush toys.

Here's my new kawaii desk tidy from Paperchase!

Hello Kitty is kawaii. Especially when she's wearing a kimono and is accompanied by a big pink bow! My housemate Kate got me this wicked-cool necklace for my birthday from Tragic Stitches:

Image from here.

I also love Japanese animated movies and TV shows (anime). I'm currently awaiting the next new episode of Naruto Shippuden on Crunchyroll (it's all getting very exciting in the Hidden Leaf right now with another Great Ninja War kicking off) and I own a number of Studio Ghibli movies. The Hayao Miyazaki range includes some pretty beautiful and random typical-Japanese stuff, like Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle, but also includes an anime version of The Borrowers, entitled The Secret World of Arrietty (Karigurashi no Arrietty). This story is a bit Americanised but with the lovely animation and charm of Miyazaki I'd give it a watch if I were you!

Image from here.

I first got introduced to Japanese music by listening to the theme tunes from the Naruto series. If you like Japanese music or think you'd like to give it a try, listen to G3 radio online on Tuesday evenings. My friends in Area 11 have a radio show where they play lots of sweet tunes and there's a chat room type thing so you can request songs and answer the question of the week if you are so inclined!

Here's a video with lyrics for Bluebird by Ikimono Gakari:

I have never been to Japan, a fact which makes me sad, and I will go one day I'm sure. Until then I will keep watching anime, eating sushi and katsu curry, listening to J-rock and buying stuff I think is cute. In short, continuing being an embarrassing Westerner who doesn't really know anything about Japan. I tried to learn more about Japan by taking a module of Japanese language in my second year of my undergraduate Biology degree. I spent months learning hiragana and katakana and trying to remember the Japanese for post office, business card and newspaper but instead remembering aisu-kurimu (ice cream), hanbaga (hamburger) and terebi (television) because they're pretty much just English words put into Japanese syllables. They're fun to say, give it a try!

Here are some sites I enjoy:

Ji Ji Kiki: A jewellery shop named after the characters in Kiki's Delivery Service. They sell lots of cute necklaces and earrings, a large proportion of which have cute faces on them. Say it with me now: Ka-wa-iiii!

Flutterscape: This is a marketplace which sells many things from Japan. Lots of collectibles and accessories to be found here.

Tofu Cute: A UK based store which sells accessories, stationary and Japanese snacks. I love the great selection of Puccho and Pocky, and the endless edamame popping keyrings!

Tokyo Kawaii Etc.: A website/blog written by a Japanese lady called Kirin. She writes about things going on in her life, makes videos and explains how things in Japan are different from other countries. 

Japanese lunches are the coolest!

Not an Animal Lover...

Anyone who knows me will know I am not a huge animal lover. Don't get me wrong, I'm not heartless, I got upset when Bambi's mum and Simba's dad died but to be honest that's probably because they could talk. I do appreciate that larger animals can have their own individual personality but I'm not one of those who thinks animals are like people. I'm also pretty strongly allergic to anything bigger and hairier than a hamster (they make me sneeze too but just with less intensity).

- As an aside: I hate the Dog's Trust charity advert, which, amongst other charity ads, try to give dogs human characteristics and say they will send you a card in the post. How can they lick the envelope? How can they place the stamp? The answer is they cannot and thus I feel so obviously lied to that I get annoyed and grumble loudly at the TV, irritating those around me more than the advert probably did. I'd feel much better about donating if they said "Billy is a grumpy dog who won't fetch your paper but he'll lie happily on your feet for a bit. He also likes chicken but it makes him fart.", although I suppose guilt-tripping people does make money. -

Anyway, back to the point, I am not a typical animal lover. I do have pet gerbils who entertain me hugely, but I think of them as pets instead of friends. Some people might think this is isn't right but I look after them as best I can (with some help from my kind friends), I buy them new houses and toys which they destroy in 3 hours and I sometimes try to give them a sand bath but they just eat the sand instead. Idiots. I am under no illusion that they see me as anything other than their primary food giver and besides doing that important task I am unimportant to them.

So, it is safe to say I have never wanted a large, uncaged house pet like a cat or dog... until this day. When I saw this Youtube video my heart officially turned to mush and I Googled hard to see what kind of breed he/she is. I then discovered the Munchkin Cat. They have teeny-tiny legs. Here's the Japanese website linked in the video which sells them and you don't have to speak Nihon-go to enjoy this site because the pictures, like the ones on the right, speak for themselves! It is all I can do to not shout "AWWWW!" out loud but rest assured I am doing so in my head!

If there is some way of overcoming my allergies, when I am a grown up with a house and a proper job I will be getting one of those little fluffballs. Preferably a grey one. And maybe he or she will send me cards in the post. More likely they will just behave like any normal cat and do this instead.

Here's what's left of my gerbils' destroyed wicker teepee: