HONG KONG, July 21, 2015 — The immediate appeal of Yoshitomo Nara's art is its "kawaii" quality. This word, which means "cute," has become pervasive in contemporary Japanese colloquia, and it is used broadly and often to compliment anything from a pair of shoes to a person sitting next to you. For Nara's artwork, however, the word is uttered with much deeper and poetic sense of empathy than its translated meaning can fully encompass. Dr. Miwako Tezuka deciphers this mysterious dimension of kawaii that makes us all love Nara's art. (1 hr., 3 min.)