http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-japan13.html
Plastic surgery changes face of Japan to Western one
October 13, 2003
BY GARY SCHAEFER
TOKYO -- Risa Arato never liked her hooded eyes -- even her friends said she had a stony gaze. So the 19-year-old saleswoman decided to remake her face -- and to do it on ''Beauty Colosseum,'' a prime-time Japanese TV show in which people get free makeovers from a panel of ''beauty experts'' including a cosmetic surgeon.
''I used to be afraid to show my face in public -- I was a real indoor person,'' said Arato. ''Now I can look people in the eye.''
Women are more than ever changing the face of Japan by walking into cosmetic surgery clinics and walking out with rounder eyes, bigger noses and fewer wrinkles.
''Cosmetic surgery used to have a shadowy reputation,'' said plastic surgeon Toshiya Handa. ''It was the kind of thing you only heard about celebrities and bar hostesses doing.''
By one credit agency's reckoning, spending on cosmetic surgery climbed to around $25 million last year, up 50 percent from 1994.
Cosmetic surgeons say insecurities about typically Asian looks can be partially explained by Japan's long infatuation with images of the West -- Arato said she idolizes Julia Roberts -- though most of the clinic's testimonials simply describe anxiety about looking plain. AP