Are Japanese Girls Kawaii?

Maybe you have heard of the term Kawaii, meaning “cute”, “lovely”, and “adorable”.
When used to refer to a female human, it is more common to a younger age. It has less nuance of “beautiful”.

For better or worse, Asians tend to look younger for several reasons.

Borrowing some of Jennifer Hu‘s points, Japanese have:

1. More melanin than caucasians.
2. Different anatomical face structure.
3. Skin tend to photoage by developing colored spots rather than wrinkling.
4. Less obesity
5. More UV aware

1. More melanin than caucasians.

Asians aren’t the most melanin-rich race. But having more melanin means having more protection against UV.
Therefore, Asians are less vulnerable to age-related UV damage such as wrinkling, scalping, impaired pigmentation compared to their Western counterparts.

2. Different anatomical face structure.

I’m not going in too much detail, as there are too much difference between races. In general, the Asian skull tend to be wider and less protruding.

Low brow ridge, low nose bridge, and epicanthic folds are considered youthful or childlike.

This results in a more younger, immature look.

3. Skin tends to photoage by developing colored spots rather than wrinkling.

Less wrinkles are due to the thicker dermis. Color spots are caused by having more melanin.

4. Less obesity

According to The World Factbook, Japan is ranked 185/191 for obesity rate.

Having less subdermal fat often leads to a younger look.

5. More UV aware

Japanese girls tend to protect themselves fron ultraviolet more.

Not only do they use sunscreen and sunglasses, but they use black umbrellas, special sunblocking caps, sleeves and gloves solely invented for this reason.

Perhaps caucasions prefer having a nice tan to look healthier and more fit, as where Japanese prefer 美白 bihaku, or beautifully whiter skin.