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D I S S E R T A T I O N

A Y A K A Y O S U M I

How does kawaii mascot characters work as a therapy to cure working women’s daily stresses and anxieties in Japan?

To me To others

W H Y I S I T R E L E V A N T ?

As a Japanese person: I need to understand the issues that working women are facing in Japan’s modern male-centred work culture (e.g. workplace sexism) As a graphic design student: It is crucial to learn how design can identify and solve problems - the therapeutic effect of mascot characters and how it relieves the audience’s stresses and anxieties Gender inequality remains common and large across the world and it is prevalent in different areas of life (e.g. employment, education, medical care) The 2018 Global Gender Gap Report finds that women have reached 68% parity overall, which means that there is still a 32% average gender gap that remains to be closed

Context

By age and gender

Source: Adult’s favourite mascot character ranking 2018 (conducted by Macromill, answered by 1,000 male and female Japanese participants from the age 20-69)

Total (n=1,000) Own Do not own Male 20s (n=79) Male 30s (n=99) Male 40s (n=1 16) Male 50s (n=96) Male 60s (n=1 10) Female 20s (n=76) Female 30s (n=97) Female 40s (n=1 14) Female 50s (n=97) Female 60s (n=1 16) 62.5% 37.5% 60.8% 39.2% 58.6% 41.4% 38.8% 61.2% 44.8% 55.2% 38.2% 61.8% 90.8% 9.2% 89.7% 10.3% 83.3% 16.7% 63.9% 36.1% 65.5% 34.5%

O W N E R S H I P R A T I O O F C H A R A C T E R M E R C H A N D I S E

Top 7 from 18 elements

E L E M E N T S E X P E C T E D F R O M A C H A R A C T E R

Cuteness Relaxation Entertainment Uniqueness Return to childlike innocence Comfort Relief 62.3 % 54.3 % 29.3 % 18.9 % 15.9 % 15.6 % 15.6 %

Source: Adult’s favourite mascot character ranking 2018 (conducted by Macromill, answered by 1,000 male and female Japanese participants from the age 20-69)

W O M E N I N J A P A N ‘ S M A L E - C E N T R E D W O R K C U L T U R E

Working mothers

• Dual roles as a care taker and an ideal worker
• Poor access to childcare - lack of nurseries in Japan
• Negative attitudes towards working mothers

Lack of career opportunities

• Few opportunities for women’s promotion or good benefits
• Expected to follow the masculine work norm (e.g. working long hours)

Harassment (power and sexual)

Theories/ideas

Iyashi (healing of a wound to the emotions)

Baby schema (Konrad Lorenz, 1943)

Anthropomorphism (gijinka)

Case studies

Rilakkuma (San-X) Aggretsuko (Sanrio)

Rilakkuma and Kaoru

Aggretsuko

18

I M A G E S kawaiicutely.blogspot.com/2013/07/rilakkuma-10th-aniversary-wallpaper.html www.laweekly.com/sanrios-new-character-is-a-rage-filled-25-year-old-office-worker/ group.tyo.jp/news/pressrelease/61 16.html www.san-x.co.jp/rilakkuma/profile/ www.laweekly.com/sanrios-new-character-is-a-rage-filled-25-year-old-office-worker/ icotto.jp/presses/15608 www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.0041 1/full casabrutus.com/art/102029/2

S O U R C E S U S E D

I N F O R M A T I O N honote.macromill.com/report/20180222/ Brand Mascots And Other Marketing Animals Yuru-kyara and Mascot Characters: Cute Aesthetics and the Empathic Effect of Kawaii in Japanese Commercials

S O U R C E S U S E D