Japanese are getting trained in “Hollywood smile”. More than a dozen Tokyo art school students were holding mirrors to their faces, pushing the sides of their lips upward with their fingers: they were practicing how to smile in one of Keiko Kawano’s latest seminars.
Most people wouldn’t think to pay for it, but Kawano’s services as a smiling coach are in high demand in Japan, where mask-wearing was nearly common during the pandemic. Himawari Yoshida, 20, one of the students taking the program as part of her school’s career preparation classes, says she needed to improve her smile.
“I hadn’t used my facial muscles much during COVID so it’s good exercise,” she said.
Demand for smile training in Japan soars
Egaoiku – literally “Smile Education” – has witnessed a more than fourfold increase in demand from last year, with customers ranging from enterprises looking for more personable salespeople to local governments aiming to improve the well-being of their population. A one-on-one class lasts an hour and costs 7,700 yen ($55).
Even before the epidemic, many Japanese people used masks during hay fever season and during exams out of fear of becoming ill for a major life event.
Even though the government lifted its advice to wear masks in March, many people continue to wear them daily. In a May poll conducted by public broadcaster NHK, 55% of Japanese respondents said they were wearing them just as frequently as two months before. Only 8% said they had stopped wearing masks altogether.
Interestingly, almost a quarter of the art school students who took the workshop wore their masks during the lecture. Young people may have grown accustomed to wearing masks, according to Kawano, noting that women may find it easier to walk out without cosmetics and males may be able to conceal the fact that they haven’t shaved.
A former radio personality in Japan has started teaching a course on how to smile
The former radio personality, who began teaching in 2017, has also educated 23 others to be smiling coaches to promote the qualities and skill of constructing the ideal smile throughout Japan.
Her patented “Hollywood Style Smiling Technique” includes “crescent eyes,” “round cheeks,” and contouring the borders of the mouth to reveal eight pearly whites in the upper row. Students can practice their smiling technique on a tablet and receive feedback.
Kawano feels that because of their sense of security as an island nation and a unified state, Japanese people may be less prone to smile than Westerners. According to her, the danger of guns may, ironically, induce greater smiling.
“Culturally, a smile signifies that I’m not holding a gun and I’m not a threat to you,” she said. With a surge in inbound tourists, Japanese people need to communicate with foreigners with more than just their eyes, she added.
“I think there’s a growing need for people to smile.”
