Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics

272 Pages·2006·4.89 MB·English

by  Laura Miller

Beauty Up

Beauty Up
Exploring Contemporary
Japanese Body Aesthetics
Laura Miller
UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIAPRESS
Berkeley / Los Angeles / London
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Parts of this book appeared earlier in diªerent form in the following
publications and are printed here by permission of their original publishers:
parts of chapter 1 as Miller, 2000, “Media Typifications and Hip Bijin,” U.S.-
Japan Women’s Journal19: 176–205; chapter 3 as Miller, 2003, “Mammary
Mania in Japan,” Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique11 (2): 271–300, by
courtesy of Duke University Press; parts of chapter 4 as Miller, 2004,
“Youth Fashion and Changing Beautification Practices,” in Japan’s
Changing Generations: Are Young People Creating a New Society?,ed.
G. Matthews and B. White, 83–97, by courtesy of Routledge/Curzon Press;
and chapter 5 as Miller, 2003, “Male Beauty Work in Japan,” in Men and
Masculinities in Contemporary Japan: Dislocating the Salaryman Doxa,ed.
J. Roberson and N. Suzuki, 37–58, by courtesy of Routledge Press/Taylor
&Francis.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2006 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miller, Laura, 1953–
Beauty up : exploring contemporary Japanese body aesthetics /
Laura Miller.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn-13978-0-520-24508-2 (cloth : alk. paper), isbn-100-520-24508-3
(cloth : alk. paper)
isbn-13 978-0-520-24509-9 (pbk. : alk. paper), isbn-100-520-
24509-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Body, Human—Social aspects—Japan. 2. Beauty, Personal—
Japan. 3. Beauty culture—Japan. 4. Body image—Japan.
5. Philosophy, Japanese. 6. Japan—Social life and customs. I. Title.
gt497.j3b43 2006
306.4'0952—dc22 2005016386
Manufactured in the United States of America
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Natures Book, which contains 50% post-consumer
waste and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992
(r1997) (Permanence of Paper). 8
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
List of Tables ix
Preliminaries xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction. Approaches to Body
Aesthetics and the Beauty System 1
1. Changing Beauty Ideology 19
2. Aesthetic Salons 40
3. Mammary Mania 71
4. Body Fashion and Beauty Etiquette 100
5. Male Beauty Work 125
6. The Well-Behaved Appetite 159
7. The Language of Esute 176
8. Esute Power 195
Notes 207
Bibliography 215
Index 241

Illustrations
1. Painting by Hashiguchi Goyê: Keishêno onna (Woman
applying makeup), 1918 22
2. A1924 beauty manual contrasts Japanese- and
Western-style makeup 24
3. The cute aesthetic, displayed by porn idol Kogure Chie 25
4. Kogyarustyle in 2000 29
5. B-Girl style in 1999 33
6. Aesthetic salon advertisement for bridal esute 45
7. Visual anthropometry: Takano Yuri Beauty Clinic
“Cinderella Book” brochure, 1996 47
8. Beauty technology: Esute de Mirêdo aesthetic salon
booklet, 1999 48
9. “Oriental” cupping treatment at Slim Beauty House
aesthetic salon 62
10. Angel Wing “bust-up” product advertisement 72
11. Chest-flattening kimono undersash (datemaki) 79
12. Sex/breasts for sale: signboard on Tokyo street 81
13. Bust-up treatment at an aesthetic salon 87
14. Medical chart for bust-up treatment from Socie de
Esute aesthetic salon 90
15. The breasts positioned correctly: a bust-up product
advertisement 95
16. Shrine votive (ema)for ample breast milk at Kigandê 98
17. Face-shaving technique: Matsushita Electric Company
catalog, 1997 105
vii
viii ILLUSTRATIONS
18. Body hair worries in advertisement for hair removal
product 107
19. Etiquette Up tablets for beatifying body waste, sold by
Takano Yuri Beauty Clinic 111
20. Double-eyelid glue technique, Popteenmagazine, 2003 116
21. Kimutaku in Men’s TBC aesthetic salon advertisement,
1999 131
22. “Chest hair is gross!”: illustration for a magazine
poll, 1999 136
23. Making fun of male beauty work 137
24. Meiji-era unisex cosmetics: Bigan Sui (Beautiful Face
Water) 139
25. How to get Kimutaku-style hair 140
26. Men’s eyebrow beauty work 143
27. The Manicure Diet from Ranking Dai Suki!
magazine, 2000 166
28. The dieting journey weight-loss diary 169
29. Naisu(The Nice) hair coloring: example of English
in product naming during Meiji era 179
30. The productive use of upin product names 182
31. The pharmaceutical exproduct marker: Gold DXAlpha
eyelid glue 188
32. “Chinese esute” as a code for sexual services 196
33. Esutetourism to Korea 199
Tables
1. National chain salons 43
2. Services provided by aesthetic salons 44
3. The Five Elements system 64
4. Men’s fashion and lifestyle magazines 129
5. Nikkei Trendypoll of male beauty work, 1997 145
6. Fine Boyspoll of male beauty work, 1998 145
7. Orthographic code-switching 192
ix