Rid of their anti-Covid masks, Japanese are rushing to schools to learn how to smile again

Learn to smile again. That’s the promise of these dazzlingly successful Japanese schools, some of which have seen their membership inquiries quadruple since the end of 2022. If France has been removing Covid-19 masks for more than a year, Japan has meanwhile remained under restrictions. But since February, that is, for three months, Naruhito’s government has stopped forcing the population to wear masks in public places.

An unexpected decision that brought a new phenomenon to light. the Japanese, though freed from their restraints, seemed to have mostly learned to live with a hidden face, losing the sense of “smiling” in public. So, faced with the unrest stirring up the population from February 2023, many are rushing en masse to body language classes to adapt to the world and relearn this facial expression that has become obsolete.

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smile to be happy

For 51e, Japanese citizens can take group or private lessons, also called “smile lessons”. The primary goal of the participants sitting at the table is to be able to naturally remove their mask before performing a few facial muscle stretches. On June 5, the agency Reuters: took his cameras to one of Keiko Kawano’s classes, where more than a dozen students from the Tokyo Art School participated in the session. Equipped with small mirrors, we see them ready to show their teeth, cowering in front of Kawano’s trainer.

The latter is a smile teacher at Egaoiku (Japanese for smile education). His method, called the Hollywood-style smile technique and trademark, involves using several facial cues, such as half-moon eyes and round cheeks, to try to make his eight teeth appear taller. Thanks to facial recognition software, she can mark her students’ most successful smiles. Among them are a large number of salespeople who are used to wearing a mask all the time, but also younger recruits who want, for example, a job interview.

In addition to “learning how to live in society”, learning to smile again will enable you to be happier. “A smiling face is synonymous with happiness,” says the coach in an American newspaper column. Making deliberate muscle movements sends signals to your brain and ultimately creates positive feelings, even if you don’t feel happy.

Post covid channel

Although she doesn’t have a special medical degree, Keiko Kawano hasn’t jumped on the post-covid wave, but has been practicing smile classes for several years now. The former marketing teacher started in nursing homes and private companies in 2017 before turning to private classes, reports. New York Times May 15. Some people want to be in top shape on their wedding day or to go to work more easily, for example.

Because the expert assures us, unlike France, Japan is not in the habit of smiling so much and so easily, anti-covid mask or not. For New York Times, “smiling is much less important than bowing to Japan (…) Some Japanese women have even trained to keep their mouths shut while eating or laughing.” Smiling mainly comes from Western culture, which is very popular in Japan.

Not surprisingly, many Japanese people still wear masks today, despite the lifting of the requirement. So in a survey last May, three out of four Japanese people said they would continue to wear their “face panties,” as they call them, mainly for hygiene reasons.

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