The fans are stomping and clapping as the Japanese duo known as Puffy warble a disco tune. The stars toss their auburn-dyed hair and pace the stage, dressed in jumpsuits and cloddy sneakers. They ...

Japan is a country obsessed with cuteness, known as "kawaii (可愛い)," where everyone -- even the Tokyo Police -- has a mascot. Now that the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, which will be held in Tokyo, ...

MIYAZAKI, Japan — For some of Japan’s most adored celebrities, the journey to fame starts in a converted Internet cafe above a bowling alley in Miyazaki. This is where Hiromi Kano runs her unlikely ...

Editor’s Note: Joshua Paul Dale is a professor at Tokyo Gakugei University. He is co-editor of “The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness”, and the editor of “Cute Studies,” a special issue of the East ...

If there is a product, then a Japanese company probably has a cute character for it. Usually, it doesn’t seem to matter what the product is. Case in point: the enema-themed character “Kan-chan.” ...

All I can hear in my mind is Japanese teenagers (mostly girls) giggling and pointing at how cute Line’s new icons and skins are in the Android launcher that the company just announced today — called ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Ever seen an ambassador dressed from head to foot in pastel frills? How about a diplomatic envoy in a mini-skirted school uniform? In a bid to raise its international profile, Tokyo ...