In recent years, Japan's kawaii culture has exploded in popularity. WSJ's Eric Bellman speaks with author Manami Okazaki about how cuteness has gained a global fanbase.

In Japan, ‘cute’ is a big deal. Their own word for it, kawaii (“ka-why-ee”), is more of an ethos than an adjective. Shops and billboards are filled with big-eyed fluffy figures.

Sanrio recruited Shimizu and other illustrators to create “kawaii” characters at a time when cute, girlish styles were popular in Japan. But the word is used often in Japanese society ...

Cuteness as a Japanese concept predates the modern use of the word “kawaii” — for example, in Japan’s Edo period (1603-1868), “netsuke,” or miniature charms made of ivory or boxwood ...