abc.net.au: "T-shirts featuring cartoon characters with huge sparkling eyes, pastel coloured plush animals adorning mobile phones and even cars with a Hello Kitty motif -"cute" is no longer confined to products for children, but an aesthetic that is popular with all ages. The home of this cute style is Japan, although design that is "kawaii", as it is called in Japanese, is increasingly being embraced in the west as cool. What's behind this growing fascination with "cute"? And why is cute design considered quintessentially Japanese?" Listen/Download here