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Let's start today's column with a warm-up exercise. Ready to waken up that brain?

Name the first five things that come to mind when you think about Japan.

Ready. Set. Go!

五。四。三。二。一。Zero.

Need more time? Sorry - I'm working with a limited amount of space here! So, did you come up with sushi? Sumo wrestling? Cherry blossoms? Rock gardens?

How about Hello Kitty?

Easily one of the Japan's most recognizable cartoon characters, Harō Kiti (Hello Kitty, ハローキティ) is known and loved the world over. From Hello Kitty bento boxes and chopsticks to cell phone straps and designer tennis shoes, Hello Kitty is a global trademark that appeals to virtually all age groups and both sexes. According to estimates, Hello Kitty adorns over 22,000 products worldwide, and earns almost a billion dollars a year in revenue for the Sanrio Company of Japan.

Hello Kitty was created in 1974 by Sanrio - the very first product was a clear vinyl coin purse bearing the face of Hello Kitty, which sold for 240 yen or approximately two dollars. Surprisingly, Hello Kitty was intended to be named 'Kitty White' after one of Alice's cats in the Lewis Carroll classic Through the Looking-Glass. At the time, British culture was the height of fashion amongst Japanese girls, and Hello Kitty was never intended to have any appeal beyond the pre-adolescent female market.

Of course, the designers at Sanrio failed to fully appreciate the Japanese obsession with all things cute.

One of the first words foreigners learn upon arriving in Japan is the all-important catch phrase kawaii (cute, 可愛い). The favorite three syllables of most women in Japan, cuteness is a cultural obsession that few foreigners completely understand. While Western beauty and fashion stresses the importance of women looking sexy, a large percentage of Japanese females strive to attain the highest possible level of kawaisa (cuteness, 可愛さ). Incorporating everything from brightly colored hair-extensions and fluorescent eye make-up to knee-high socks and flowery dresses, Japanese fashion can simultaneously shock your senses and melt your heart.

With that said, cute culture extends far beyond the realms of beauty and fashion, and it's by no means limited to the female segment of the population. If you look for it, kawaisa appears virtually everywhere in Japan, even in places that Westerners would consider juvenile. For instance, the Japanese think nothing of using cartoon characters and random bits of cuteness for public service announcements, office memos, government letters and even police notices.

So, it should come as no surprise that Hello Kitty is a marketing phenomenon unlike no other. Greying salarymen think nothing of dangling a hot pink Hello Kitty strap from their cell phone, while middle-aged housewives swear that the Hello Kitty toaster is the best on the market.

(And, truth be told, I've been known to rock out some Hello Kitty chopsticks from time to time).

You don't have to look too hard in Japan to find something cute.

From ruffled clothing and dollhouse shoes to smiling mascots and anime characters, evidence of kawaisa (cuteness, 可愛さ) is everywhere in Japan. Even beyond consumer goods, being cute has become something of a national obsession, with women (and increasingly men) of all ages striving to achieve their own unique expression of kawaisa.

Surprisingly, cute culture is increasingly being accepted as a part of the national identity. Indeed, there is a growing sense of pride in the fact that cute things are immediately thought of as being 'Japanese.'

In recent years, kawaisa has even been successfully exported to neighboring Asian countries and to a lesser extent the West. Beyond Hello Kitty, Japanese super-cute fashion is all the rage in Taiwan, South Korea and parts of China, and even Americans can now identify Harajuku Girls thanks to the pop sensation Gwen Stefani.

Of course, this brings about the question: why do the Japanese love cute things?

Much has been written about this subject, and sadly I don't have the time or the space to outline everything here. But, there is no shortage of theories out there trying to explain this surprisingly profound question.

For instance, some academics claim that kawaisa is the modern manifestation of the Japanese obsession with harmony and order. Then again, when I ask my students why they dress in bright pink and neon green, they usually reply, 'It just makes me feel very very very happy.'

With that said, there is a growing minority of Japanese people that hate the idea of kawaisa, and find cute culture to be extremely juvenile and degrading to the society. This opposition to the mainstream is not hard to understand, given that past Japanese culture focused on restraint and minimalism. Consider for a moment the time and skill it takes to study calligraphy, tea ceremony, zen meditation, karate or any of Japan's traditional arts.

So, is it possible for a culture to simultaneously embrace sumo wrestling and Pokemon?

Clearly, modern Japan is in a state of flux, which is one of the reasons why it's such an interesting place to live. In the span of a few hours, it's possible to take in an afternoon performance of live kabuki theatre, and then blow a few thousand yen playing the latest arcade games.

But, no matter what happens to mainstream Japanese culture in the years to come, one thing is for sure - Hello Kitty is here to stay. Since 1983, she's held the position as the US Children's Ambassador for UNICEF, and has been sported by celebrities as diverse as Mariah Carey, Cameron Diaz and Paris Hilton. Sanrio stores can be found across the globe, and the face of Hello Kitty adorns everything from clothing and stationary to jewelry and electronics. Despite her syrupy sweet image, Hello Kitty has even appeared on adult underwear, wedding dresses and even a, well, how should I say this - 'personal massager.'

Hello Kitty - she's not just for children anymore.

do guys like hello kitty