Inagaki, Hidehiro. “戦国武将は､なぜ雑草を家紋にしたのか | 武士と植物の知られざる関係.” 東洋経済オンライン, 27 Mar. 2015, toyokeizai.net/articles/-/63869?page=3.

Kinsella, Sharon. "CUTIES IN JAPAN." WOMEN, MEDIA AND CONSUMPTION IN JAPAN. edited by Lise Skov and Brian Moeran, The Curzon Press and The University of Hawaii Press, 1995, pp. 220-225.

“Leaving His Mark on an Ancient Art: Arabic Calligrapher Honda Kōichi.” Nippon.com, 8 Feb. 2013, www.nippon.com/en/people/e00028/.

pino. “Cute dayly chinese – LINE stickers.” LINE STORE, n.d. store.line.me/stickershop/product/1439257/en.

thidam. "ながーい歴史が育てたデザイン！イスラム模様、その魅惑の世界" アート・カルチャー, キナリノ, 31 May. 2017, https://kinarino.jp/cat7-アート・カルチャー/13891-ながーい歴史が育てたデザイン！イスラム模様、その魅惑の世界.

Uesugi, Nao. Samukawa Shrine. Kanagawa, Japan, 21 Jan. 2018.

Uesugi, Nao. Sheikh Zayed Mosque. Abu Dhabi, UAE, 6 Feb. 2016.

Through all the classes of Academic Skills in English 7, we worked on many projects and learned how things that are usually categorized as individual aesthesis could be shared cute by examining both visible symbols and metaphors. At this project, what lens A argue is metaphor of cuteness; when people write their handwriting cutely as one of the means, they want to express themselves. As a representative lens B, I chose Arabesque, Arabic letters, on traditional architecture and Japanese shrines without any letters/characters. Therefore, it is easy to compare the differences between Western and Eastern cuteness, and specifically ways they use letters/characters. In fact, I really feel that the approaches of cuteness each culture is taking and how they show those cuteness toward audience are diverse.

As I visited the mosque, I really feel there is the world of white that contrasts Arabesque. On the other hand, Japanese architecture, shrines or castles, is as much traditional as mosque but still let visitors feel familiarity because of its design and colors. I believe that familiarity is one of the feature that all kinds of Japanese cuteness, such as idols and characters, have.

Thank you so much Professor Karl for having JCulP for a year and taught us significant things and something that would be our basis for all the works that we will face in 4-year school life. Even though we will move on to our own separate ways, I am pretty sure the year we spent would definitely help us in many ways.

You might know each shrines and temples has own emblems as same as Samurai Family. 

I visited Samukawa Shrine, in Fujisawa city, and asked some questions to Shinto priest in there. I would like to consider the relationship between those emblems, Mosque where Arabesque is used, and Family crest.

Emblems that are used in shrines and temples are also categorized as Kamon, family crest, too since those who administrate shrines and temples are kinship family of court noble. Specifically, Samukawa shrines uses symbols called Tomoe and Kikukamonsho, the Chrysanthemum Throne at many places. Tomoe is the one of the designs on the decoration on top of construction and door, and even on priest's clothes. Kikumonsho is used on Japanese lanterns. That symbol is also used on Japanese passport and something related to Emperor's family, which means it has very religious and strong meaning to Japan. 

What I want to focus on is that they rarely use any Kanji characters like family crest of samurai. Moreover, they use weeds and flours for other decorations as same as mosque itself and design of arabesque in mosque. However, those botanical designs on shrines are not similar to ones on mosque. Specifically, as I introduced, flour designs in arabesque depict  eternalness and ownership, but those on Japanese architecture such as shrines or castles show perishability. 

Therefore, I consider those religious organizations implicitly tend to use those designs since they do not aim to express or emphasize personal thoughts. 

As a suitable example of lens A, people in Japan, the East, present themselves using almost original letters, this page would introduce "family crests" used by Japanese samurai, called "Kamonー家紋ー” in Japanese. Kamon is a type of emblems that both Samurai and commoners have used to represent family genealogy. Especially, those samurai used are called "Busho-monー武将紋ー”

I chose several famous family crests as examples. As you can see, the symbols usually imitate flours or weeds. Also, there is no symbols using Kanji. Before I explain the connection between Family Crest or emblems and Kanji characters, the reason why flours and weeds are mainly used would be described.

According to the Toyo Keizai Online (http://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/63869), Samurai were likely to use weeds in the fields rather than lions, eagles, or animals that are categorized in the highest on the food-chain. Compared to royals in Britain or France, they usually used rose or lily, beautiful and colorful flowers, we receive the impression that Japanese feudal warlord use such a unfancy symbols.

It is because those weeds have strong vitality and patient so that those emblems could depict that samurai with the power of rebellion. So why did they not use Kanji as Kamon? I interpret this fact that because the emblems were used for "family" and not for "individual". In other words, they did not use these Kamon to express themselves, but represent. 

Like Kamon, samurai also used symbols on their armors too. The place that Samurai put those symbolic ornaments called Tatemono is like helmet called Kabuto. There are couple samurai who put Kanji on Kabuto as their symbols.

Since these ornaments are to represent myself, it could be said that the use is close to cute handwritings, Maru-moji. However, these Kanji ornaments usually imitated from Buddhism ideas or passage from sutras. Therefore, these ornaments illustrate not only their feelings and thoughts but also religious ideas too. I assume the reason is that they wanted to fight with grace of God, whose  way of thinking is close to arabesque or Arabic calligraphy too.

Have you ever seen Arabic calligraphy before? This calligraphy is one of the way people use to write/draw beautifully the words from Koran, which corresponding to "God's words". There are couple specific rules to do Arabic calligraphy, we cannot draw art whatever we want by quoting from Koran. Looking at historical background, this calligraphy has been developed partly because in teaching of Islam people are not allowed to idol worship. In other words, drawing human beings or animals to create something relates to religion of Islam is thought to be taboo. Therefore, as you can see, Arabic calligraphy is close to cute handwriting in English, which people would have fun or feel accomplishment while and after drawing the works. Moreover, those works would be so meaningful to makers, not only because it uses "God's words".

The other example is that Arabic letters are used in architecture as design too. When I went to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates, I visited ”Sheikh Zayed Mosque” and found out that Arabic letters are naturally blended into constructions unlike Japanese shrined and temples. Since I cannot read any Arabic, I do not even know what it is saying, but it does not have to be quotes from Koran as long as those words are written in holy Koran so that those sentences cultivate people's spirituality. (https://kinarino.jp/cat7-アート・カルチャー/13891-ながーい歴史が育てたデザイン！イスラム模様、その魅惑の世界)

These styles, the way Arabic letters are used, are called "Arabesque”.  Not only area of art, calligraphy or architecture, Arabesque is used in commodity such as pottery and carpet too. Actually, pattern of flours and plants in above picture are also in Arabesque too since those botanical designs seem to last forever like universe. Those ideas, using letters as one of the designs, illustrates that Western Cuteness care about ownership since those constructions have been built forever unless someone try to break them. Therefore, Arabesque is one of the best examples showing feature of Western cuteness. 

As I explained, handwritings could be cute in both western way and eastern way, but this page would examine what kind of letters, language, could be cute.

Let me give you some example,

Figure 1

Figure 2

If you look at figure 1 and 2 and compare them, you would find out there is a condition that makes letter cute. What I found out is Western letters including alphabets or language used in Figure 1, Georgian Language, have been cute whether it is printed or hand written. It means people rarely could make handwritings cute by using their own original ways. On the other hand, Figure 2, Hangul characters, looks so different when it's printed or hand written. I believe that Hangul have an equally condition as Japanese Maru-moji, which means people can shows their originality while writing sentences. 

Therefore, I provide the features that make letters/characters being cute in handwriting.

1. The more tighter original character itself is, the more cuter it would be.

→People could not translate letters/characters, which have curving or something like little cartoon pictures originally, into cute handwritings that people even feel inventing a new language as Lens A introduced.

2. The letters/characters which have equal height as in printed could be cuter.

→When Japanese people learn Kanji characters for the first time, we usually use square grids to write Kanji neatly so that each Kanji will fit in same ration as same as printed sentences. On the other hand, when Japanese students, also English speaker, started to study English, we suggested to use handwriting practice sheets. We use these notebooks because to avoid misreading as other alphabets.

The features also works Chinese Maru-moji too.

(https://store.line.me/stickershop/product/1439257/ja)

As I introduced in "Lens A" page,  cute handwritings in English, or even alphabets, are mainly used in abstract words or quoting something like from Bible, poems, songs, which people think as one of their cherished mottos. Therefore, I think English, alphabet, version of  cute handwritings could be said as a kind of "Art". In other words, people do not use adorable handwritings to express themselves, but to motivate, encourage themselves, and resolve their feelings since they usually quote positive phrases or something that could give people a little chuckle. 

If you take a look at picture in above, you can see the letters using different sizes and fonts. This is one of the reason that this type of handwritings is concerned to be "Art".

However, I assume that why they mix up those different sizes, fonts, and even capital and small letters is might be related to "how we Japanese make sentences by mixing all the Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana". It is partly because those mixtures give people strong impression as you can see the picture below. You would remember the words, Enjoy or at least MOMENT when you glance at picture. 

Japanese young people has been using cute handwritings mainly called "Maru-moji" since middle 1980s. The purpose of writing letters cutely is that they feel they can express their feelings and even themselves. 

According to Sharon Kinsella, cute handwritings has been seen in both English, Western, and Japanese, Eastern. However, the reason why young generation use cute handwriting is different. Those ways are used in English when they want to quote something or use abstract words  like "friend" or "love". Therefore, I think they are close to draw the letters rather than write. 

 On the other hand, "by writing in the new cute style, it was almost as though young people had invented a new language in which they were suddenly able to speak freely on their own terms for the first time. They were thus able to have and intimate relation with the text and express their feelings (Kinsella 224)."

In the next page, I will introduce more example of what Lens A arguing, the difference of western cute handwritings and eastern cute handwritings.