VANGUARD
Some Japanese students are now taking classes from professional instructors to learn how to smile after getting accustomed to wearing masks.
Over three years since the pandemic started, the demand for smile coaching services in the country has surged as more people try to get used to exposing their faces in public after the government relaxed its mask requirements in March.
“I hadn’t used my facial muscles much during COVID so it’s good exercise,” Himawari Yoshida, a 20-year-old art student, told Reuters.
Such gap is where smile instructors like Keiko Kawano come in to bridge in order to ensure that Japanese get back their smile after a protracted period of face-masking.
“People have not been raising their cheeks under a mask or trying to smile much,” Kawano told the New York Times in early May. “Now, they’re at a loss.”
Students like Yoshida attend smile lessons hosted by Kawano as part of their school’s efforts to prepare students for the working world.
Kawano, a former radio host, runs a company called “Egaoiku,” which translates to “Smile Company,” per Reuters.
She started out teaching smiling at a gym before…
