ちいさいものがすき - りか - CLUB 一休・イッキュウ - 蕨のキャバクラ

小さいものが好き。
日本人は小さいものが好き。
最近ちいかわもすごく流行ってる。
確かに、可愛い。映画がだいひっとしてるそうだね。

見渡すと小さいものがたくさんある。ポケモンも、ポケットに入れるモンスター。
たまごっち、リラックマ、たれパンダ、ポムポム。
キャラだけじゃなくて
盆栽、茶室とかもそう。日本には小さい器に大きな世界を宿す文化がある。
清少納言も1000年前に書いている。枕草子。
なにもなにも、ちひさきものは、みなうつくし。と。
この感覚はずっと繋がって磨き続けられたものなんだな。

ヨーロッパ行った時も思ったけど、ヨーロッパは全部がでかい。大きさ勝負だ、圧巻な建築がたくさんある。
一方日本は大きさを競うというよりは、限られたものをどれだけ豊かに表現できるかを重視している。制約の中での美というのか。

そしてかわいい、も日本に特有の文化。
可愛いだけじゃダメですかって最近も流行ってるね。駄目だけどさ。笑
でもどうしてこんなに可愛いが流行るのだろう。
可愛いという感情自体は弱いものを慈しみ、大切にし、命を繋ぐために人間に与えられた感情だろう。
日本人はそれを人間だけでなく、物にも、庭にも、季節にも、キャラクターにも向けてきた。
そして可愛いを世界を愛するための一つの重要な知性に仕上げていった。


可愛い、可愛い、言ってしまうのも悪くない気がしてきた。




Why Do Japanese People Love Small Things?
Japanese people seem to love small things.
Lately, Chiikawa has become incredibly popular. I heard the movie has been a huge hit.
And honestly... it's adorable.
When you look around, you notice how many "small things" there are in Japanese culture.
Pokémon literally means "Pocket Monsters."
There are also Tamagotchi, Rilakkuma, Tarepanda, Pompompurin...
But it's not just about characters.
Think of bonsai, or the tea room.
Japanese culture has long embraced the idea of placing an entire world inside something small.
Over a thousand years ago, Sei Shōnagon wrote in The Pillow Book:
"Everything small is beautiful."
That sensitivity has never disappeared.
If anything, it has been refined over the centuries.
When I traveled in Europe, I noticed something very different.
Everything felt grand.
The cathedrals, the palaces, the monuments—they overwhelm you with their scale.
Japan, on the other hand, seems less interested in making things bigger, and more interested in expressing richness within limitations.
Beauty born from constraint.
That may be one of the defining characteristics of Japanese aesthetics.
Then there's the idea of kawaii.
It has become one of the symbols of modern Japan.
There's even a popular song recently called "Isn't Being Cute Enough?"
(Well... probably not. )
Still, it made me wonder.
Why does "cute" hold such a special place in Japanese culture?
Perhaps the feeling of "cute" evolved in humans to help us cherish the weak, protect the vulnerable, and care for the next generation.
But Japanese people seem to have extended that feeling beyond people.
To objects.
To gardens.
To the changing seasons.
To fictional characters.
Over time, "kawaii" became more than an emotion.
It became a way of relating to the world.
A form of intelligence that allows us to love what surrounds us.
So maybe saying,
"That's so cute."
isn't as shallow as it sometimes sounds.
Perhaps it's simply another way of saying,
"I choose to love this world."