Japan’s kawaii culture didn’t go global by adapting to Western tastes – it did it by doubling down on its own identity. That was the central argument at one of the 2026 Golden Melody Festival‘s most colorful opening sessions, held in Taiwan ahead of the Golden Melody Awards.
Kawaii – Japan’s aesthetics-driven pop movement built around cuteness, character and personality – has grown from a domestic cultural phenomenon into one of the country’s most effective entertainment exports, carried by artists, idol groups and visual brands that have found audiences far beyond Asia.
Moderated by Liang Makoto, strategic consultant at Sony Music Solutions Inc., the panel titled “Kawaii Culture as an Entertainment Export Model” brought together Nakagawa Yusuke, CEO of Asobisystem Co., Ltd., and Kimura Misa, producer at Kawaii Lab and former idol, for a wide-ranging conversation on artist development, cultural branding, and the surprising global reach of cute.
Nakagawa, returning to the Golden Melody Festival after a decade, outlined Asobisystem’s two-decade evolution into a cultural ecosystem spanning artist management, live events, retail and regional projects, all guided by its core philosophy of “play.” He pointed to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Atarashii Gakko! as examples of acts that achieved global reach not by adapting to Western expectations, but by fully embracing their original, unconventional identities – with streaming and social media amplifying that authenticity worldwide.
