The members of Chai aren¡¯t content with ¡±kawaii.¡± That word ¡ª meaning ¡°cute,¡± but in a kind of pitiable way ¡ª gets tossed around a lot in Japan and by people overseas, who use it to refer to almost anything Japanese.
¡°The media defines it as a very specific attitude and look,¡± bassist Yuuki tells The Japan Times from the Shibuya O-nest venue, several hours before her band is scheduled to play. Vocalist and keyboard player Mana chimes in: ¡°We were never really called ¡®kawaii¡¯ while we were growing up. We think people define it as something that¡¯s quite uniform: skinny, big eyes, whiter skin. If you don¡¯t have that, you can¡¯t be kawaii. You immediately go to being ugly.¡±
¡°We want to change that,¡± Yuuki adds.
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