Japanese get trained in 'Hollywood' smiles as masks slowly come off

TOKYO - In one of Keiko Kawano's recent classes, more than a dozen Tokyo art school students held mirrors to their faces, stretching the sides of their mouths upward with their fingers: They were practising how to smile.

Himawari Yoshida, 20, one of the students taking the class as part of her school's courses to prepare them for the job market, says she needed to work on her smile.Kawano's company Egaoiku — literally "Smile Education" — has seen a more than four-fold jump in demand from last year, with customers ranging from companies seeking more approachable salespeople and local governments looking to improve their residents' well-being. An hour-long one-on-one lesson costs 7,700 yen .

But while the government may have lifted its recommendation to wear masks in March, many people have still not let them go on a daily basis. A poll by public broadcaster NHK in May showed 55 per cent of Japanese saying they were wearing them just as often as two months earlier. Only 8 per cent said they had stopped wearing masks altogether.

The former radio host who started giving lessons in 2017 has also trained 23 others as smiling coaches to spread the virtues and technique of crafting the perfect smile around Japan.

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