Portland Book Review

Just found this, it was reviewed a while ago. It is great to find all these excellent book related websites. 

Thank you so much Portland Book review.  
m(_  _)m


All Things Cute and How They Dominate Japan

By Manami Okazaki & Geoff Johnson
Prestel, $24.95, 224 pages
This in-depth look at Japanese cute culture addresses a plethora of perspectives on the subject. Supported through examples from food to fashion and everything in between, it features the lesser known aspects of the kawaii following. Breaking up the book into sections makes the impact of cuteness on different areas of culture much more powerful. With interviews and evidence, this seems to be the all inclusive guide to understanding the evolution of cute in Japanese culture.

“Kawaii does, of course, have a lot to do with aesthetics, but it also reflects changes in social structures and the role of women, the rise and fall of the economy and a sense of national identity.”

The organization of text with supporting images provided a well rounded and strong support for the points of view expressed. Images are important and connect perfectly with the text to provide a complete panorama. There is no doubt that kawaii culture has touched every aspect of Japanese living and has quite the evolving history. Easy readability makes this a well organized book. Although some sections might have been better grouped together due to short length, the separate sections flowed into one another well for the most part. The inclusion of interviews supplies different perspectives and makes this sound like a reliable and very colorful work of art.
Reviewed by Isabel Hernandez

Wink books is this awesome blog that profiles a new book a day, to celebrate their love of print.  Super happy to find kawaii on there. 

About Wink books: 

Books are not dead! The newest thing in the digital age are solid paper books. Not all books deserve to be printed on paper, but some books do, and these are the books that Wink celebrates. Every weekday Wink reviews one remarkable book that demonstrates what paper books can do. 

The exquisite subtlety of traditional Japanese art and design is 
legendary. But on top of that subtlety, the Japanese have an odd 
affection for the aggressively cute. Cute as in Hello Kitty, anime 
manga, pulsating TV game show graphics, wide-eye-popping color packing 
and over-the-top cosplay costumes; the kind of extreme poptomistic 
cuteness that outsiders either find head-scratching ridiculous, or 
completely captivating. I’m in the latter camp and find myself delighted
 and made happy by the explosive sensibility of Japanese cuteness. Here 
is a mighty fine catalog of the full range of “kawaii” – or cuteness – 
in Japanese food, maps, fashion, toys, and love, and a bit of how it 
came to reign in Japan. – Kevin Kelly 

riarumi

Did an interview for riarumi, a website that looks at females in whatever industry they might happen to work in. I really don't see myself as a "female journalist" it's not the main issue I align myself with, but I guess because of the things I choose to write about, I am constantly around really awesome Japanese female creative industry people, and I've been lucky to meet a ton of amazing chicks. Most of the models in my books are also people with their own careers asides from modelling.
At least half the kawaii book features girls/ women who celebrate femininity and  channel that energy into something creative and fun; whether they be fashion designers, illustrators, stylists, MUAs, graphic designers, artists etc. anyways the rest of the interview is on their site, the pic is from Tunisia post "Arab Spring" (I realise a lot of ppl don't dig that title) when I was interviewing El General!

thanks Sam for dropping me a line, good luck with the site! xxx