Modern Japanese culture has enriched the languages of the world with the concepts of “kawaii” and “kawaii” (“cute”, “adorable”, “pretty”, “nice”, “small”). As readers of this book will see, Japan is simply obsessed with everything cute, small, touching, defenseless. Inuhiko Yomota examines the phenomenon of kawaii and the evolution of this word from medieval texts to modern practices: fanatical passion for manga and anime, cosplay and collecting souvenirs, worship of idol groups and the “mimicking” of everyday communication find theoretical justification here. By juxtaposing kawaii with other unique concepts of Japanese aesthetics, the author ponders whether kawaii truly represents Japanese culture? Inuhiko Yomota is a famous Japanese humanities scholar: semiotician, literary critic, film critic, translator, visiting professor at several Japanese and foreign universities, author of almost a hundred books.