Biography
Professor Hiroshi Nittono received his PhD in Human Sciences (Experimental Psychology) from Osaka University in 1998. From 2005 to 2016 he was an Associate Professor and Director of the Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory at Hiroshima University. In April 2016 he moved to the Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, as Full Professor of Experimental Psychology. His research interests include psychophysiology and engineering psychology. It was only by chance that he started research in the area of kawaii. In 2007, an undergraduate student happened to ask him whether it was possible to do some psychological research on kawaii as part of her graduation thesis, simply because she was keen on kawaii things. At that point, there were few serious studies on kawaii in the field of psychology. Since then he and his students have conducted both theoretical and empirical studies on this topic. A journal article published in 2012 entitled ‘The Power of Kawaii: Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus’ was covered by more than 70 newspapers and journals around the world. Currently he also serves as General Advisor of the Kawaii-Mono Kenkyukai (Research Society for Kawaii Things) sponsored by a government agency, Chugoku Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry. The society aims to create high-quality products that combine Japanese traditional craftsmanship and feelings of kawaii or cuteness.
Previous Presentations
Keynote Presentation (2017) | Beyond Cuteness: An Emerging Field of the Psychology of “Kawaii”
