Japan has appointed these ladies as the Ambassadors of Cute in a bid for attention, according to the New York Times. Reuters suggests this is a ploy to increase Japan’s “soft power,” or cultural power, as it slips increasingly into the shadow of China’s monolithic economy. The word for cute in Japanese is even cute: kawaii. I think they’re well on their way.
Still, ladies, I want your job. I would totally be the one in the middle, which would you be? And can you imagine if the US had ambassadors of culture? Who would they be?
no credit?
[...] If you aren’t up on your pop culture, Totoro is like the Mickey Mouse of Japan (remember the Ambassadors of Cute?). I have a large stuffed Totoro at my house that people invariably end up hugging while watching [...]