From Hello Kitty to Pikachu, the country changed what the world considers adorable. But do these characters represent joy — or rage? By Ligaya Mishan Artwork by Hiroshi YoshiiKimiaki Yaegashi and ...

Cats are beloved in Japan, as they have been for thousands of years. From old mythological tales of feline yokai like the smart shape-shifting bakeneko to the Hello Kitties and lucky maneki-nekos of ...

This year has been anything but cute. It’s been occasionally optimistic, but mostly unpredictable, tumultuous, and painful. But cute? Far from it. Enter the timeline cleanse. You may have seen them: ...

YOKOHAMA, Japan -- Japan's culture of cute makes no exceptions for poop. It gets a pop twist at the Unko Museum in Yokohama near Tokyo. Here, the poop is artificial, nothing like what would be in a ...

Kawaii means cute in Japanese, so you can expect there will be cute offerings from local vendors, artists and crafters. According to Event Coordinator Alli Uno, kawaii is a cultural phenomenon in ...

From boosting tourism to generating billions in sales, Japan’s mascots have grown into a powerful industry – but only a few ...