What does the Japanese word “kawaii” (可愛い, かわいい) really mean? In Korean, it is often translated as “cute,” but in Japanese culture, “kawaii” carries social meanings that no single word can fully capture. Most people place the roots of kawaii culture in Japan in the 1980s and its global breakout in the early to mid-2000s. In 2025, kawaii has become more layered and more complicated than it used to be.

Any conversation about kawaii in 2025 has to include KAWAII LAB., an idol project under Asobi System. They put kawaii front and center, because the whole project is built to champion that idea, not just name it. At the core is FRUITS ZIPPER, often nicknamed Furuppa (ふるっぱー). After debuting in 2022, they won the New Artist Award at the 65th Japan Record Awards in 2023 and held a solo show at Nippon Budokan. In 2024, they followed it up with an Excellent Work Award at the Japan Record Awards. In 2025, they continued to achieve milestones, taking the stage at Saitama Super Arena and landing their first spot on the year-end NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen lineup. They also have a solo concert at Tokyo Dome scheduled for February 2026.  

So where does Furuppa’s standout presence come from? Through the five songs below, let’s look at what they emphasize in concept and sound, and what “kawaii” means for Furuppa and KAWAII LAB.

“The Cutest Point of Me (わたしの一番かわいいところ)”
This is the song that won Furuppa the New Artist Award at the 65th Japan Record Awards, and you can tell it was made with intention. Misa Kimura, the producer behind every KAWAII LAB. group, has said she poured what she learned from her own idol days into Furuppa, drawing on the three years she spent in Musubizm (むすびズム) starting in 2014. She has said she realized early on how much social media would matter, and that she wanted Furuppa to be a fast-moving group. That choice paid off: the song has hit a staggering 800 million views.

Kimura also asked Sho Yamamoto, a musician known for calling himself the creator of “the cutest music in the world,” to write the lyrics and music. She has said the song came from a desire to celebrate both your favorite idol and the people who cheer them on. In the highlight, the members sing, “You know what my cutest point is/The fact that you know makes you amazing, amazing, amazing/And the me you know is the cutest/I noticed that, too/Please do not say ‘this is cute’ or ‘that is cute’/Do not call anyone else cute/I do not want it aimed at anyone but me/Does that make no sense?” Right there, the song stretches the idol-fan relationship into something bigger. In a January 2023 conversation published by the Japanese culture magazine Real Sound, idol columnist Shinji Okajima explained that the lyrics begin as a one-on-one “idol and fan” setup, a relationship built on trading “likes” through a screen. But once the track went viral, it spread beyond that, turning into an exploration of a relationship between the self and the one who affirms it with a “like.” It also blew up on TikTok as a prompt: influencers asked, “Tell me my cutest point,” and fans answered in the comments. Yamamoto has also said he wanted to write about “absolute kawaii,” not “relative kawaii,” where idol and fan trade feelings and build each other’s self-esteem.

“NEW KAWAII”
“NEW KAWAII” is the track that kept the momentum from “The Cutest Point of Me (わたしの一番かわいいところ)” rolling. Like the earlier hit, it was written and composed by Sho Yamamoto, and in 2024 the song won Furuppa an Excellent Work Award at the Japan Record Awards. Because “NEW KAWAII” is the core idea behind KAWAII LAB. itself, it has become one of Furuppa’s defining songs. Asobi System describes Furuppa as a group with the concept “from Harajuku to the world,” spreading “NEW KAWAII” from Harajuku, a fashion district where diverse cultures and individual styles converge. Pay attention to the lyrics, which push the idea of “kawaii” even further.

“Deciding things by majority vote is not kawaii at all/It is fine if I am in the minority/(...) /It is fine if my prince is still undecided (of course it is)/It is fine if I am the prince, too, I will do my best/I want a great world that can break down that ‘no way, absolutely not’ stance/The person I like turned NEW KAWAII/I hope that, even just a little, it was for them/Not something someone else decided/Just doing it because you want to, that is a way to live.”

“Chasing Your Bright Future (君の明るい未来を追いかけて)”
This is Furuppa’s debut song, the track that marked their very first step. When Asobi System first announced the group, they explained the name like this: they combined FRUIT, meaning “to bear fruit,” with ZIP, meaning “to give energy,” to create FRUITS ZIPPER. The name holds two hopes: that they will grow through idol activities, from unripe seeds into real fruit, and that they will become a group that gives the world energy. “Chasing Your Bright Future” fits that name perfectly. Compared to the vibe Furuppa leans into in 2025, this song can feel like it comes from a slightly different lane. However, there is also a story embedded in this song. Amane Tsukiashi, whose member color is red and whose symbol is a cherry, was a member of HKT48 from 2016 to 2020 before graduating. Because of the pandemic, her graduation stage had to be held without an in-person audience. A towel sold as her graduation merch carried the phrase “Her story continues to the next chapter,” and the lyric in this song, “In the story I had been writing all by myself/you were the one who gave it a ‘to be continued,’” functions as a direct response. In performance footage, when Tsukiashi reaches that line, the crowd chants “Amane! Amane!” and you can see her fighting back tears as she hears it. It is a moment that clearly shows both the bond between Amane, who returned rather than letting her story end, and the fans who waited for her, as well as the idol-fan relationship Furuppa aims for.

“skyfeelan”
“Furuppa” is both the group’s nickname and the name of their fandom. Most groups keep a nickname and a fandom name as two distinct terms, so this is quite unusual. It fits their reputation for a tight-knit fandom. The song that captures that feeling is “skyfeelan.” In the opening, Suzuka Chinzei sings, “so that we can all shine as the cutest onstage,” and that “all” is meant to include every Furuppa, the fandom. In the hook, Chinzei sings, “It feels like I cannot die as long as I am an idol, so I opened the door of fate.” Later, as they look out and meet the crowd’s eyes one by one, they sing, “I want you to keep watching us as we grow/I have to say thank you/Truly, everyone, thank you/Keep watching this miracle!” It is a Furuppa song in the most literal sense, because the idols onstage and the fans in the crowd are bound together by the same name.

“Mirror (かがみ)”
For Furuppa, 2025 was a banner year. They hit No. 1 on the Oricon weekly chart for the first time, completed their first Asia tour, and also made their first appearance on the NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen lineup. They also won an Excellent Work Award at the 67th Japan Record Awards, putting them back on the Grand Prize nominee list, with “Mirror(かがみ)” as their nominated track.

There is something especially interesting about “Mirror.” If “The Cutest Point of Me” was a track that consciously nodded to K-pop, “Mirror” is Furuppa leaning into a distinctly Japanese pop-culture core. In the earlier Real Sound conversation, the success of KAWAII LAB. idols led by Furuppa is often described as the result of taking in K-pop influences and reshaping them into something that still feels fully their own.

But “Mirror” borrows its setup and lyric world from the compact mirrors that magical girl stories often use as transformation items. In the music video, when they sing the “transform” part, they hit the kind of signature poses you would recognize from tokusatsu series like Super Sentai (the franchise that later became Power Rangers) and Kamen Rider. You can see the same energy in their October 15 release, “Hacha Mecha Wacha Life! (はちゃめちゃわちゃライフ!),” which also goes all in on distinctly Japanese cultural codes, from transformation poses to wotagei (オタ芸), the synchronized cheer performance. In “Mirror,” the scene where the members transform from everyday clothes into idol outfits is an obvious homage to magical girl series like Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure. They even turn a normal concert outfit change into something staged like a magical girl transformation.

At this point, Furuppa is back in their element. With KAWAII LAB. actively taking in both K-pop and J-pop strengths, and with Furuppa at the center, how far can they go? Their future trajectory invites even more curiosity.