The Land of Cute

Babies. Puppies.  Kitties.  Bunnies.  Duckies.

I feel these are “normal” cute things.

Then there is Japan cute.  Japan has it's own category in cuteness because, well…there is really no other way to say this: It’s weird.

Now.  All the regular cute things are here in droves.  Puppies, kitties, bunnies, etc.  The weirdness starts when you discover things like stickers of glittery, multi-colored piles of poop.

That’s right folks: Poop is cute.  I bet you didn't even know that. I didn't. 

I am really not sure what the cute aspect of poop is.  Perhaps it’s the little faces drawn upon them.  Or their shapes, like little dollops of whipped cream.  Go figure.

Another bazaar cute item in Japan is slime.  My students love drawing pictures of slime with faces.  Again, go figure.

Then there is food.  Cute food is a way of life in Japan.  There are bento lunches, pudding puddings, mameshiba commercials…I could keep going for a long time.  Believe me.

While I appreciate cuteness as much as the next person, I feel a line should be drawn at some point. I really don’t think illustrations of cute poop and slime would fly back home. 

I like to think I keep an open mind.  There is that saying, “Beauty (I’ll substitute cuteness here) lies in the eye of the beholder.” 

I get that.  But poop? 

Call me blind, but I fail to see the cuteness of poop.