AUGUST 26 — I wonder if Japanese people get tired of the way they're perceived by some, not as people but curiosities, like exotic animals.Some stereotypes are true — that there is an enduring love and adoption of cuteness in Japan.Take the success of the recent Chiikawa movie.While the rest of the world was filling seats for Spider-Man, cinemas were packed for the Chiikawa movie and its adorable 2D animation.Despite its dark undertones I liked it enough to watch it twice.We admire Japan for its history, culture, cuisine and speed running its way into developed nation status.The kawaii or cuteness obsession in Japan is something very uniquely Japanese and I like that they just lean into it, with cute mascots everywhere.Unsurprisingly a Japanese university, the University of Hiroshima, actually conducted a study, The Power of Kawaii: Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus, in 2012.It looked at the performance of university students and how viewing cute baby animal pictures affected their efficacy at a fine motor dexterity task.Interestingly, efficiency rose to 44 per cent after looking at cuties, only 12 per cent after looking at grown animals, and normal objects only saw an improvement of one per cent.Chiikawa, Pokémon, Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma... Japan has a formula of churning out adorable characters like South Korea churns out pop idols, both very lucrative. The 'Chiikawa' movie is testament to Japan's love for adorable creatures. — Picture via Facebook/MediaLink The closest Malaysia has come to something similar is probably in how popular the Upin and Ipin animated series is in Indonesia.I think there is a big hole in our local creative scene as far as creating IP with mass appeal.As Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day come nearer we are still very much a nation preoccupied with our differences instead of what we share.It doesn't help that we keep getting the same old people using the same rhetoric about not wanting to share... because it works.Malaysians are still far too easily baited with racial and religious sentiment and the notion of a Bangsa Malaysia seems more like a populist fantasy than an achievable reality.With many of us preoccupied with just cari makan, there are too few storytellers and bards to sing our hopes, to weave our dreams and help us imagine a better narrative than the same old, same old colours of hate.Nagano (a pen name), the illustrator of Chiikawa, did not envision the series to be a massive success.It wasn't some workshopped, market researched phenomenon but an illustrator daydreaming about being a soft, cute animal in this harsh, cruel world.Her daydreams have created an adorable, though frightening, world where even being an adorable furry being can't save you from the horrors of monsters and needing to pay the rent.Yet those simple tales of little friends just enjoying the small joys of life, whether they be sharing noodles or wearing matching pyjamas, are a reminder that we all need a little lightness of being, no matter how heavy the world gets.I hope Malaysians learn to dream again, to tell more stories and sing songs to make us remember that even in a world full of monsters we can all learn to find, and share, happiness in this place we call home.Selamat Hari Merdeka. Selamat Hari Malaysia.* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.