Of all the changes we have seen in Japan over the past 10 years, one really stands out: personal grooming. It used to be that people did their personal grooming privately, behind closed doors. But nowadays, the Japanese people have gone public. Sometimes there are so many women on the train applying makeup that it seems the passengers are getting ready to go on stage rather than to work. I wonder what this will lead to next -- cast parties?
The other day, a high school student sat down on the train next to me and started plucking her eyebrows. She held an oversize pocket mirror to her face while flicking the offending brow hairs off the tweezers onto the floor. Apparently, this woman was way behind in her brow-plucking schedule, because she continued for 20 minutes. I sat in fear of a brow hair changing trajectory in midair and lodging itself in my stockings.
Public grooming is not limited to young girls either. I have seen high school boys on trains open their compact mirrors and scrutinize their complexions. Some even brandish eyebrow kits for a bit of last-minute, before-class tweezing.