The Eight Standards of Japanese Beauty

Chrisak4298 says:

I agree whole-hardheartedly with this post. Another recent trending standard of beauty is snaggle teeth. Where Americans are very particular about straight, white teeth, Japanese people- especially girls- are getting surgeries done to purposely have snaggle teeth. I personally dont find it cute. But hey, to each his own.

Also, I think having thin to no eyebrows is a long standing standard of beauty in Japan. You see it in old art both -painted and performance- and many young people today still shave down their eyebrows, even men!

SumoFit says:

I’m new to this blog and would just like to say how much I’m enjoying reading your posts. You are a talented writer and story-teller. I hope one of these days you will turn the best Japan Guy posts into a book.
Here’s my two cents’ worth:

1. light/white skin – Yes, Japanese women go to great lengths to protect their skin from the sun. You can always tell if someone is from the countryside – their skin is tanned and crinkly from working in the fields, even though women from the country also try to cover up with hats, scarves, gloves, etc. Japanese also tend to develop large age-spots on their skin, so covering up helps minimise those, as well.
2. high-bridged nose – A small, narrow, high-bridged nose is considered to be a characteristic of the upper classes (as opposed to, say, commoners or peasants).
3. small/slim face – Yes, for the same reason as #2. Japanese (and Native American) babies have the biggest cheeks in the world, so it’s funny that the small, slender face is so admired when they grow up.
4. thin/petite – the slender, petite figure is considered more graceful. Also, the curvy, hourglass figure would not look good in kimono, which are cut in straight lines and so do not accommodate curves. The Japanese figure (both male and female) is broad from the front, usually with wide, angular shoulders and wide ribcage, but narrow when viewed from the side. Again, this figure looks best in kimono and karate-gi, etc. I read that standard sizing of Japanese judo-gi is such that the jacket is one size larger than the pants. Apparently, this is a problem for Westerners, who prefer the two garments to be the same size. I can only guess that the Japanese size them the way they do to accommodate their wide shoulders and ribcages. If you can find any information about this, please let us know (more random trivia with which to impress your friends).
5. curly eyelashes – I don’t know about this one, but I would hazard a guess that most Japanese have straight eyelashes. Mixed- race Japanese often have gorgeous, long, even curl, eyelashes.
6. double eyelid – It’s sad that they go to the extreme of having eyelid surgery. And in the West, those “cat eyes” are considered exotic and attractive!
7. long legs—Most Japanese don’t have long legs, and they often bow out at the knees. Some people would argue that it’s because they squat a lot, others would argue that the trait developed to allow them to squat easily. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? There is also the question of “thigh gap” that has been making the rounds in US media. For most Japanese, thigh gap is a given; it’s a genetic trait, and if you don’t have it, you don’t have it.
8. polite personality—Perhaps a better word would be “gracious”, which encompasses much more than mere politeness, which is, of course, a necessary part of graciousness. An abrasive, harsh, loud personality is definitely considered unattractive.

I would add the following two traits that we were taught to cultivate:
1. high-pitched voice – the gravelly Lauren Bacall voice is not considered attractive, and Japanese women make an effort to raise their voices to a higher pitch, especially when they are speaking with someone in a position of authority or of a higher social standing.
2. grace – physical awkwardness, clumsiness, and any movement or mannerism that looks remotely masculine is frowned upon, for instance, a woman should never move anything with her foot, even if her arms are full. We were always told growing up to not be “heta-heta”. The thin, petite figure comes across as more graceful, assuming, of course, that she is not a complete klutz.

#Hugging My Waifu Shinon says:

Interesting.
Specially the nose part.

I enjoyed the article.

#hashtag

Emma says:

Hey, just a heads up, an article on the site Japan Info plagiarized off of this article. You can see it here: http://jpninfo.com/22183