Japanese flock to relearn art of smiling as masks come off after Covid mandate
(Representative image) Kimono-clad sales clerks bow and smile to greet New Year's shoppers as they rush into a department store to buy "lucky bags" containing items worth three times their price tag to celebrate a new year of business in Tokyo on January 2, 2015. Photograph:( AFP )
Story highlights
It would appear natural that people wouldn't forget the old ways of meet and greet. But some people in Japan are taking help from professionals in order to relearn smiling.
It would appear natural that people wouldn't forget the old ways of meet and greet. But some people in Japan are taking help from professionals in order to relearn smiling.
Life felt weird at the height of the Covid pandemic. Everyone wore masks. Anyone who coughed or sneezed was given looks of reprimand. Human communication had become virtual.
It is no wonder if people had trouble adapting to post-pandemic interaction. It would appear natural that people wouldn't forget the old ways of meet and greet. But some people in Japan are taking help from professionals in order to relearn smiling.
“With mask wearing having become the norm, people have had fewer opportunities to smile, and more and more people have developed a complex about it,” Keiko Kawano, a coach at the 'smile education' company Egaoiku told the Asahi Shimbun, the Japanese news outlet.
“Moving and relaxing the facial muscles is the key to making a good smile. I want people to spend time consciously smiling for their physical and mental wellbeing.”
According to Egaoiku, number of applicants rose after media reports of Covid reclassification back in February. Just a month after that, government said masks would be an individual choice.
“I didn’t have opportunities to see people during the coronavirus crisis and didn’t smile in public,” 79-year-old Akiko Takizawa told Mainichi Shumbun newspaper.
“This has reminded me of how important smiling is,” she added..
The smile coaching classes are proving to be popular with women.
Reports say that these classes typically begin with stretches to relieve facial tension. Then the participants raise their handheld mirrors to eye level. Then they flex parts of their face in accordance with Kawano's instructions.
“A smile is only a smile if it’s conveyed,” she told her students in Yokohama, according to the Japan Times. “Even if you’re thinking about smiling or that you’re happy, if you have no expression, it won’t reach your audience.”
Kawano is a familiar face on TV and social media. Till now, she has provided coaching to more than 4000 people to teach them the art of smiling. The report further said that Kawano has also helped hundreds of others become certified 'smile specialists'. The Guardian said that Kawano now oversees 20 trainers who run classes across Japan.
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