International Bridge Builder: The Vision of the Global Kawaii Association, an Organization that Links Japanese Culture to the World

As the transmission of trends and fashion has shifted from magazines to social media, the largest difference between the Heisei (1989 - 2019) and Reiwa (2019 - present) eras might be the increased immediacy of overseas trends. Starting from Y2K and Y3K, trends that start overseas quickly become popular in Japan. Similarly, trends like the 'landmine system' fashion that originated in Japan have rapidly spread overseas. These are some of the interesting aspects of the Reiwa era.

However, as we are able to adopt global trends in real time, international issues have also started cropping up more frequently. These issues involve language barriers and deeply rooted cultural misunderstandings.

What is needed as Japanese culture continues to spread internationally?

To explore these international cultural issues, we spoke to members of the Global Kawaii Association: Megan Catherine Rose, Rei Saionji, and Haruka Kurebayashi. They shared their insights on Japanese culture that interests overseas audiences, and the association's wide-ranging activities based on Japanese culture.