Kawaii is a Japanese word meaning cute, cuddly or lovable. In other words, something which makes you happy for a moment. Puppies and kittens are obvious examples.
I am reading about Tokyo in National Geographic, and it is interesting to speculate how the fact that the Japanese equivalent of perhaps New York and Los Angeles rolled into one has been destroyed twice in the past century has affected their consciousness. That sort of thing leaves scars. Modern Americans have no equivalent. We have no equivalent to the sufferings of most of Europe in the two World Wars.
Our closest thing, I guess, is the Great Depression, that great failure of governance, that great failure of our leaders to do the right things. That was our flirtation with Venezuela, and we “accomplished” the same result.
Small wonder the Japanese are not having children. Small wonder much of Europe is not having children. The scars of war are in the grandchildren, and the redemptive power of religion is largely gone. They have not replaced it with cuteness, but it is perhaps a sign. In large tragedies, one seeks comfort in small things, and small things very often deliver what is needed.