Cosmetic Surgery

Lookism is a term used to describe people's preference of good looking appearance. It is almost always associated with prejudice.

Lookism is probably most popular in Korea, the nearest nation of Japan. However, Lookism exists in every country to certain degree, and it is somewhat strong in Japan as well. Also, beauty in Japan today is deeply associated with Western look. This includes double eyelids, big eyes, sharp and high nose, pale skin, etc. Numerous people dye hair to lighter color and some people even wear color contact lenses to imitate blue eyes.

People do not stop here with eye color and hair color. They go even further to become more beautiful, or become more western looking. Double eyelid surgery is very popular in Japan. Many Asians have single eyelid which makes eyes look smaller. In Japan, bigger eyes with eyelids, which resemble Western look, are popular, and many therefore many people decide to get the eyelid surgery. Double eyelid surgery, however, increases eye size only vertically. There are two other types of eye surgery that increase eye size horizontally. First type is to cut little part of skin between the eyes and suture. Second type is to cut little part of skin outward of eyes. Both surgeries, along with the double eyelid surgery, make the eye size bigger.

Many Japanese, or Asians, have lower nose compared to Western people. Some Japanese people get nose job as well to make it higher and sharper. There are several ways to do this. Simplest one is to inject Botox or filler to increase the volume. More comlicated ways include reconstructing the cartilage inside of the nose and inserting Silicon or other supporting materials. These can make lower noses become sharper and higher, which again resebles sophisticated Western look.

Youth is another catecory of beauty in Japan, or probably in other countries as well. Botox and filler are fast treatment, which can be done in lunch break. These are widely used in Japan to remove wrinkles and give volumes to aged skin. There are more expensive but better means to treat aged skin today. One of them is called Platelet Rich Plasma injection. This is done by colleting patient's blood, centrifuging it to separate collagen and other essential materials, and injecting to the wanted places. PRP injection uses patient's own blood rather than foreign materials, so that it is less likely to cause side effects.

Three main categories of beauty in Japan are thinness, youth, and Western look. To achieve these, many women and even some men decide to take plastic surgery. Is it a good thing or bad thing? Answer is not that simple.

Religion

There is a great number of gods and religions in Japan. Buddhism is one of the many religions in Japan. I will introduce Shingon Buddhism in this blog.

Buddhism is originated from India. Buddhism was first founded by Guatama Shiddartha in India. It has been spread to China, Korea, and then finally to Japan. Koyasan Shingon Buddhism is one of the many sects developed in Asia.

Koyasan Shingon Buddhism was established in 9th century by Kobo Daishi. Kobo Daishi was a famous monk in Japan at the time. He was impressed by "esoteric Buddhism" and went to China to learn more about it. Esoteric Buddhism was developed in India in the 1st century as one sect of Buddhism.

Koyasan's Shingon Buddhism stone symbols

Kobo Daishi founded Shingon Buddhism in Koyasan after returing from China. Kobo Daishi's teaching is called "Mikkyo." According to his teaching, everyone can attain enlightenment in this life. The only reason one cannot attain enlightenment is because of the greedy desire. This teaching is somewhat different from teachings of other sects of Buddhism. In other sects of Buddishm, one needs to try throughout many lifetimes in order to get enlightenment.

Shingon Buddhism's Buddha statue

Kobo Daishi was believed to attain enlightenment and still alive. He is in the state of meditation, and believed to help people who want salvation. People have provided food to Kobo Daishi' s room since the year of 835 until now and believed that he is still meditating.

Gender

Metrosexualism is one of the 21st century's trend, in which heterosexual men adapts flamboyant and fashionable appearance an lifestyle. Metrosexualism is especially popular in Japan. Guys with nice hair styles and fashionable clothing on streets of Japan are common scenes.

Yes. There are many beautiful guys in Japan. Clothing styles are different from the U.S. It is usually more flamboyant and pretty. Japanese guys buy many brands that is considered as women's brand in the U.S. as well. Guys with Gucci wallets or Louis Vuitton bag is common in Japan. But what makes Japanese guys more distinguishable in metrosexual sense, I believe, is hair style. Let's explore about their amazing hair styles

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It is almost always colored, straightened, waxed, or permed. Honestly, I have never seen any Japanese students with bushy hairs, not combed or waxed in Kansai Gaidai University. In any beauty & supply shops, men's hair styling or coloring supplies can be found in Japan. Most of the hair coloring supplies are unisex products, meaning they can be used by both men and women. However, there are some hair coloring supplies only for men as well. These hair coloring supplies are usually stronger for thicker male hairs and include less steps for convenience. The most popular hair color in Japan is brownish color, in between black and blond. Brownish hair color is said to be "normal," or "not too showy" among Japanese guys.

There are a number of hair styling methods too. There are hair gel, hair spray, wax, etc. The goal of these three products are same - fixing hair in positions wanted by user. However, the way of use and ingredients are different. Hair gel is gel type product, and users must put certain amount of gel on hand, rub it with both hands, and apply to hair as needed. Hair wax must be used in same way as hair gel, but wax gives shining texture to hair as well. Hair spray is little different from gel and wax. Users don't have to rub it or apply to hair by hands. Users merely have to spray it to hair. But, spray alone is not sufficient for styling. Either wax or gel must be used beforehand to fix hair into positions and then spray must be used to further fix it. Usually, spray is used optionally.

There are many professional hair styling methods offered in hair salon. These include straight perm, wave perm, treatment etc. Straight perm is used to straighten the curly hair, which takes about two to three hours. First, straightening perm liquid must be applied to hair. After about 45 minutes, it needs to be washed away, and hair must be dried. Then, hair stylist must iron the each part of hair with hair straightener to keep it straight afterward. Wave perm is to give curls to straight hair. Wave perm liquid must be applied to hair. Then each part of hair must be rolled and fixed by hairstylist for about 45 minutes. Then, the perm liquid must be washed and it is done. Treatment is optional to make hair healthier and give better texture. It gives nutrition to hair, which has been damaged by perm liquid and heat of iron.

After all these fussy steps, Japanese guys can go out with such nice hairstyles, which can be seen too girly in the U.S.

images from

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