Chiikawa

In September 2017, a Japanese LINE illustrator by the name “Nagano” uploaded a comic depicting a simple, small creature on Twitter. The first panel translates to “I want to become something like this. Some kind of small and cute creature” (see Figure 1).[1] This concept would later be redrawn and serialized by Nagano in 2020, detailing the chronicles of “some kind of small and cute creature.” The creature in question is Chiikawa (ちいかわ), with both the web series and manga named after the creature. 

In 2020, Chiikawa, also known as Nanka Chiisakute Kawaii Yatsu (なんか小さくてかわいいやつ), or “Something Small and Cute,” was given an anime adaption, consisting of two-minute episodes with simple yet engaging plots set in a cute world unremoved from the stresses of daily life.[2] The series has vastly risen in popularity in Japan and neighboring countries, including South Korea and China. In 2022, Chiikawa won the Japan Character Award, beating competitors such as Evangelion and Tokyo Revengers.[3] Many have credited Chiikawa’s popularity not only to its cuteness but also to the ways in which Chiikawa uses this cuteness to validate and empathize with its audience. Chiikawa harnesses the power of the cute alongside relatable plotlines and characters to allow readers to project themselves into its worlds in hopes that they can heal and prevail in times of difficulty.

Chiikawa’s Appeal

The word “Chiikawa” is a portmanteau of the Japanese words  “chiisai” (小さい) and “kawaii” (かわいい), meaning “small” and “cute” respectively. The show depicts the everyday life and adventures of the main cast, which includes Chiikawa and their friends Hachiware (ハチワレ) and Usagi (うさぎ). The characters’ designs are simple: Hachiware is a blue cat, Usagi is a yellow rabbit, and Chiikawa, whose species and gender are unspecified, is speculated to be a hamster or bear (see Figure 2). Each character shares the cute features of a round, fat face, small nose, blushing cheeks, and soft, short, and plump bodies. Despite the unknown ages of the characters, the use of infantile features associated with Kindchenschema (baby schema) lend the cast their kawaii appeal.[4] Another infantile trait of the main cast is Hachiware being the only one to speak simple sentences, while Chiikawa makes sounds such as “ehhh” or “ahh,” and Usagi shouts sounds such as “Urara.” This use of baby talk or gibberish is further heightened by the fact that Chiikawa and Hachiware are voiced in the anime by actual children. However, the cuteness of the show is not just limited to the baby schema of these characters. 

Chiikawa uses the appeal of the baby schema in conjunction with anthropomorphism, which makes its characters cuter, regardless of their age. One reason why humans utilize anthropomorphism is to identify with nonhuman creatures and find commonality across difference, healing loneliness by populating their environments with familiar beings.[5] We see this desire to identify with animals and other cute beings in Nagano’s original work, where Chiikawa’s cuteness and tininess are framed in desirable terms: “I want to become… something small and cute.” In one comic, Nagano not only wishes to become cute for its physicality, but also for the social and emotional benefits of cuteness. Nagano writes of the desire to “wear silly hats like this… and parade in front of everyone… and get complimented.”[6] Such inner desires may be hard to fulfill because they are deemed childish or silly, but they can be fulfilled in a world that values cuteness, allowing one to do as they please in a soothing and healing manner. This type of anthropomorphism causes audiences to interact with media differently, becoming emotionally invested in characters due to a desire to be similar to them and to have the freedom to live their lives as they please. In this case, anthropomorphism facilitates projection onto the cute. Audiences see their secret desires drawn out in cute characters who nevertheless possess high degrees of depth and story.

Aside from design, the personality of the characters allows for relatability. Per the Chiikawa official trailer, Chiikawa is “kind of a crybaby,” Hachiware is “kind-hearted and cares about his friends,” and Usagi is “always happy and free-spirited.”[7] We might contrast this with characters like Hello Kitty that are sold for their image and often vague in their stories or personalities, which can be interpreted freely by the customer. Chiikawa takes a different approach. While the personalities of the characters are simple, it is their stories that allow them to shine. This lack of ambiguity allows direct address of real human feelings and experiences, a fundamental component of healing. When someone can recognize their own stories in a character, even if that character looks different from them, it can be motivating and healing to see that character’s journey. Chiikawa consists of bite-size comics and episodes, with only some involving plots. The world it takes place in is magical, with witches and monsters, but not without its struggles. Some psychological horror elements shift the tone to a serious one, such as abductions and death, although they are done in a silly manner. These elements echo the human experience. Chiikawa and their friends even have to work difficult jobs for salaries to afford a standard of living, implying socioeconomic division.

At times, they face failure. One example is an episode where Chiikawa and Hachiware diligently study for an exam to advance their careers, which would allow them to earn higher incomes and buy various goods. Hachiware passes, but Chiikawa does not. The rest of the episode continues with an emotionally conflicted Hachiware split by his desire to celebrate his victory rather than comfort Chiikawa. Hachiware returns home alone, unable to celebrate properly. This highlights the vulnerabilities of both Chiikawa and Hachiware and conjures feelings of helplessness and sympathy for their situation, which are qualities associated with cuteness.[8] It also echoes a very human scenario that reflects students studying hard for exams but not doing well initially. In a sense, the viewer can empathize with the two characters, which creates an emotional bond of both projection and pity. At the end of the story, Chiikawa returns, giving Hachiware a congratulatory gift with a new sense of determination to study harder and improve next time. According to trend experts, moments like this give Chiikawa an important “human touch.”[9] For Chiikawa, it is not enough to be physically cute with a round and infantile design. Rather, it is the relatable tales of hardship and perseverance that allow the series to resonate with its viewers. According to Youtuber Tim Thoughts, this “makes one feel less alone.”[10]

Healing Through Chiikawa

Compared to other female-oriented mascots such as Hello Kitty or Kanahei, the gender ratio of Chiikawa fans seems to be varied.[11] This reality affirms that the appeal of Chiikawa is not only the show’s kawaii-ness in design and physicality, but also its humanlike charm and comfort that can be relatable to all genders. In addition to its broad appeal across genders, the typical demographic of a Chiikawa fan tends to be individuals ranging from ages 20-40 — this despite the target audience being children. The average occupation of a Chiikawa fan is an office worker or student. These demographics face significant career-related and other life stressors that sometimes lead to mental health issues including depression or anxiety.[12] They may find that their lives overlap with the lives of the main cast of Chiikawa, validating their negative feelings. This validation is comforting and healing, with the perseverance of the main cast serving as a message to viewers that they too can persevere in times of hardship. 

In 2004, Japan experienced an iyashi (癒し) healing boom, with the expansion of businesses and goods offering emotional and physical healing to alleviate everyday social and economic stressors. Examples of iyashi experiences include cat cafés and massages.[13] Iyashi often utilizes kawaii to provide healing through the use of animal companions or goods, providing a safe space away from real-world concerns. This blend between kawaii and healing also extends to the creation of cute characters that provide portable healing experiences through purchasing their goods or consuming their media.[14] For example, Rilakkuma, a bear with a lazy and laid back personality who serves as a reminder to take it easy, has their face plastered on water bottles and T-shirts. While Chiikawa arrived on the scene later, the serialization and anime coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, which contributed to its success. Chiikawa arrived at a time when healing was needed more than ever. Moreover, the effects of decreased mental health due to COVID-19 still persist and likely continue to factor into Chiikawa’s popularity.[15] The merchandise featuring Chiikawa, Hachiware, and Usagi can be easily found across Japan and can serve as a non-human companion, traveling with its buyer. An example is a Tamagotchi-like Chiikawa toy that buyers can carry around with them. Beyond products, Chiikawa offers experiences in the form of restaurants themed around its characters (see Figure 3).[16] These experiences heal by not only offering the visual kawaii appeal of Chiikawa and their friends, but also reminding the consumer of the core message of Chiikawa: to keep moving forward in life.

While the intention of Chiikawa’s stories is not fully clear, the stories inspire healing through the meaningful interactions of the characters. When combined with the characters’ relatability, this provides heartfelt narratives that promote healing. In one episode, Hachiware works diligently, and failing to notice a pit, falls into it with his work equipment. Stuck in the hole, he calls for help to no response. To make matters worse, rain starts to fall on him, and he cries while trying to stay positive (see Figure 4). To his relief, he looks up to see Chiikawa staring down at him. Chiikawa assists Hachiware by throwing a vine, but Chiikawa remarks that Hachiware left their weapon down in the hole. Hachiware urges Chiikawa to leave the weapon behind despite its importance. However, Chiikawa jumps into the pit and finds a way to get both themselves and the weapon out. The two characters assist each other, experiencing a heartwarming moment as they connect hands in the rain, pulling each other up. The rain clears into a sunny day as they dance with delight. Although Chiikawa does not necessarily have the most complex storytelling, it does not need it. Its straightforwardness is the very reminder we need within the complexities of life. As humans, we inevitably face challenging times. Whether we are big and strong or small and cute, we all struggle. The solution to our struggles is often the simplest: to persist, but more importantly, to be there for one another. This lesson of persistence accompanied by support, both internally and externally, is a fundamental step to the process of healing but is often forgotten in times of despair. Thankfully, Chiikawa reminds us of support and healing through the kawaii qualities of its characters.

The Commercialization of Chiikawa

Chiikawa was not created by a big company to sell products, like the company San-X. Instead, Chiikawa came from its illustrator’s own desire to become the kawaii and tiny. Its commercialization and merchandise came significantly later to much success. Chiikawa is now extremely popular in Japan, where it is ubiquitous. Collaborations with franchises, such as My Hero Academia, Uniqlo, Sanrio, and even Hankyu Railway (see Figure 5), attest to the success of the marketization of Chiikawa.[17] Chiikawa’s economic effect on Japan has been tremendous. A product director of Kiddyland, one of Tokyo’s premier toy stores, noted that “Chiikawa’s sale forecast for fiscal 2023 is double that of fiscal 2022,” and that “I’ve been in this industry for 30 years but I’ve never seen a character like this before.”[18] This effect has expanded beyond Japan’s borders, and Chiikawa has found success in countries like South Korea and China. Miniso, a Chinese retailer, recently revealed that a Miniso-Chiikawa pop-up shop in Shanghai earned 2.7 million Chinese yuan (USD 370,000) in just 10 hours.[19] In China, Chiikawa is referred to as “digital ibuprofen,” further illustrating that its message of perseverance and healing can transcend nations and cultures and is needed on a universal scale.

Fundamentally, why do people want to consume Chiikawa products? On a surface level, cute products sell better, with studies suggesting that exposure to cute products can generate feelings of healing and improvement in subjective well-being.[20] The physicality of these characters is undeniably cute; thus, having products of the Chiikawa characters everywhere can generate feelings of healing and comfort.[21] These positive and healing effects on consumers incentivize consumption of Chiikawa, to chase after this good feeling or project onto it. Another possible reason beyond physicality and good feeling is what Chiikawa stands for. Perhaps the audience feels the same desire as its illustrator, Nagano, to become the kawaii and tiny. What the kawaii and tiny entail are explored in the series — it is freedom, the strength to prevail, and optimism, the principles of healing. If the Chiikawa characters already share our struggles, why can we not share their successes? Can we, too, succeed, like the cast of Chiikawa? This projection can be one of the main catalysts for why the marketization of Chiikawa has proven so popular. 

Chiikawa’s rise to stardom in the country of kawaii goes beyond its anthropomorphism and baby schema. While these factors are part of Chiikawa’s appeal, its cornerstone is its ability to touch the human soul through heartfelt storytelling, an appeal affirmed by its rapid growth in Japan and neighboring nations. This projection onto the cute — the idea that we can still be cute and struggle through life while ultimately turning out okay — keeps fans coming back for more. Still in the infancy of the franchise, the next couple of years will serve as a testament to whether Chiikawa will be able to survive in a sea of new and trending kawaii characters. 

Published: 8/5/2025

Notes

[1] ナガノ(@ngntrtr), “くらしたい,” Twitter post, May 1, 2017, https://twitter.com/ngntrtr/status/859037354920624128.

[2] めざましテレビチャンネル, “Cute Critters Frolic in Chiikawa TV Anime Trailer,” April 21, 2022, 0:51, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4yfCS_YBUU.

[3] Danice Davidson, “Who’s Japan’s Best Character in 2022? Chiikawa Wins the Official Award!” Otaku USA Magazine, July 1, 2022, https://otakuusamagazine.com/whos-japans-best-character-in-2022-chiikawa-wins-the-official-award/.

[4] Hiroshi Nittono, “The Two-Layer Model of ‘Kawaii’: A Behavioural Science Framework for Understanding Kawaii and Cuteness,” East Asian Journal of Popular Culture 2, no. 1 (April 2016): 85.

[5] Rajeev Batra, Colleen Seifert, and Diann Brei, The Psychology of Design: Creating Consumer Appeal (New York: Routledge, 2015).

[6] furesshu-log, Tumblr post, August 11, 2022, https://furesshu-log.tumblr.com/post/692308330803331072/i-want-to-parade-around.

[7] HIDIVE, “Chiikawa Official Trailer,” August 15, 2022, 0:50, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz5xq_P7d_s.

[8] Sianne Ngai, “The Cuteness of the Avant-Garde,” Critical Inquiry 31, no. 4 (Summer 2005): 816.

[9] KTV News, “大人気キャラクター‘ちいかわ’ 人気の理由はかわいさだけじゃない?! 「世知辛い世の中だけど、頑張って生きている姿」 ちいかわ×GU ナガノ【関西テレビ・Newsランナー】,” September 15, 2023, 5:31, https://youtu.be/qf_qMN8euMA?feature=shared.

[10] Tim Thoughts, “Meet Japan’s Cutest Obsession - Chiikawa ちいかわ,” January 31, 2024, 10:00, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddZUalraqpY.

[11] “「ちいかわ」ファンを分析！大人がハマる理由は？企業コラボで推し活促進も,” マナミナ, accessed April 10, 2024, https://manamina.valuesccg.com/articles/2873#outline17.

[12] Norio Sugawara et al., “Age and Gender Differences in the Factor Structure of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale Among Japanese Working Individuals,” Comprehensive Psychiatry 56 (January 2015): 272-78.

[13] Amanda S. Robinson, “Finding Healing Through Animal Companionship in Japanese Animal Cafés,” Medical Humanities 45, no. 2 (June 2019): 191.

[14] Cheih-Ying Chen, Kun-Huang Huarng, and Vanessa Izquierdo González, “How Creative Cute Characters Affect Purchase Intention,” Journal of Business Research 142 (2022): 211-20. 

[15] Tetsuya Matsubayashi, Yumi Ishikawa, and Michiko Ueda, “Economic Crisis and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan,” Journal of Affective Disorders 306 (March 2022): 30-1.

[16] “池袋の「ちいかわレストラン」を先行体験！ ちいかわ、ハチワレ、うさぎも駆けつける,” Trend, accessed April 10, 2024, https://www.crank-in.net/trend/report/136924/1.

[17] “‘Chiikawa x Hankyu’ Let’s Enjoy Kansai with Chiikawa and Friends!” Enjoy Osaka Kyoto Kobe, August 24, 2023, https://enjoy-osaka-kyoto-kobe.com/article/chiikawa-hankyu/.

[18] Tim Thoughts, “Meet Japan’s Cutest Obsession.”

[19] Yan Le and Shuyi Jie, “Miniso-Chiikawa Pop-Up Shop in Shanghai Takes USD370,000 in 10 Hours,” Yicai Global, April 01, 2024, https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/miniso-chiikawa-pop-up-shop-in-shanghai-racks-up-usd370000-in-10-hours.

[20] Hsuan‐Yi Chou, Xing‐Yu (Marcos) Chu, and Tzu‐Chun Chen, “The Healing Effect of Cute Elements,” Journal of Consumer Affairs 56, no. 2 (Summer 2022): 565-96.

[21] Masako Nunokawa, “Impact on Short-Term Mood by Two Factors of Viewing ‘Kawaii’ Objects and Linguistic Communication,” The International Academic Forum, 2021, 13-14, https://papers.iafor.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/acp2021/ACP2021_59934.pdf.