Mana loves all things colorful and cute to a certain extent. As she gives me a tour of her bedroom via Zoom, the Tokyo-based singer and lead vocalist of the Japanese pop band CHAI points to a figurine of a character from Haikyuu, her favorite animated series, hanging above her electronic keyboard. She then holds up a pink Furby doll in front of her chest. Isnt this one so lovely? she asks.

Manas giddy energy almost makes me want to describe her as kawaii best translated as cute in Japanese. But to Mana and her bandmates, kawaii is a word that is in desperate need of a rebrand.

The ultimate compliment for a Japanese girl is to be called kawaii, Mana tells me. Its used to describe girls with big, round eyes, pronounced noses, long silky hair and a smaller frame.

Through bright pop vocals, unexpected fashion choices and feminist lyrics in English and Japanese, Mana and her bandmates Yuuki, Kana and Yuna are attempting to create a more progressive version of kawaii that rejects the infantilization of women and instead seeks to celebrate what are traditionally seen as imperfections. They call it neo-kawaii.

Kawaiis origins can be traced back to postwar Japan; it was popularized through describing objects that emulate innocent, purity, and hyperfeminine qualities think anime characters or colorful, bubbly writing styles, which were popularized among Japanese youth in the 1970s. Eventually, kawaii culture permeated the countrys fashion, cosmetics and even food industries, as seen from Lolita fashion aesthetics in Harajuku to colorful, petite food and drink options, mainly targeted towards women. By the late 90s and early 2000s, kawaii would eventually become the countrys ubiquitous (and often painfully unattainable) beauty standard.

Mana tells me that shes not conventionally perceived as kawaii yet her wide smile and roaring giggle implies a vibrant confident in her beauty. Its also evident throughout CHAIs self-titled fourth album, released last month, which exudes this unmistakably neo-kawaii philosophy. With classic rock-influenced singles like We The Female! and I Cant Organizeeee, CHAIs latest project is an invitation to experience being an empowered, self-possessed neo-kawaii woman.

Mana didnt get to this place of self-love without an arduous journey because, as in so many Asian cultures, there was a constant Eurocentric beauty standard looming for women. In high school, I would put on eye-puchi every morning. Mana says, recalling her teenage life in Nagoya, Japan. Its a liquid eyeliner glue that would temporarily transform monolids into double eyelids.

Face-modifying cosmetics like eye-puchi are commonly found in Japanese convenience stores and pharmacies, and are as accessible as eyeliner or mascara. Its ubiquity is no surprise, as double eyelids are an integral characteristic of the kawaii aesthetic. Japan was the first country to develop the double eyelid surgery as a cosmetic procedure in the late 1800s. Centuries later, the practice remains the countrys most popular procedure .

For Mana and her twin sister Kana (CHAIs guitarist), music and performance were respites from the all-consuming pressures of Japanese beauty standards because it was an arena for them to rebel against these standards.

In college, the twins continued to pursue their artistry, where they also met their future bandmates, Yuuki and Yuna. What brought us together were our concerns about our appearance. Mana says. Yuna (CHAIs drummer) confided in me that she would often wear her bangs down low because she was insecure about showing her rounder face. But we eventually realized that these imperfections were what made us special and quite frankly, our strong suit.