No joke: smile training booms in Japan as face masks slowly come off

‘Smile Education’ courses, priced at US$55 per hour, have seen a fourfold surge in demand in Japan over the past year

Mask-wearing was near-universal in the country throughout the pandemic and many Japanese continue to wear them on daily basis

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Students at a smile training course at Sokei Art School in Tokyo practice moving their facial muscles using mirrors. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:02pm, 5 Jun 2023

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 upwards with their fingers: they were practising how to smile.

It’s not something most people would think to pay for but Kawano’s services as a smile instructor are seeing a surge in demand in Japan, where mask-wearing was near-universal during the pandemic.

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.

Smile coach Koike Kawano teaches students at a smile training course at Sokei Art School in Tokyo last month. Photo: Reuters

“I hadn’t used my facial muscles much during Covid-19 so it’s good exercise,” she said.

Kawano’s company Egaoiku – literally “Smile Education” – has seen a more than fourfold 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 (US$55).

Even before the pandemic, donning a mask in Japan was normal for many during hay fever season and around exams due to concern about getting ill for a key life event.

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.