VOA新闻杂志2023--Teacher Aims to Improve Japan’s Smile

Teacher Aims to Improve Japan’s Smile

In one of Keiko Kawano's recent classes, more than 10 Tokyo art school students held mirrors to their faces. The students moved the sides of their mouths upward with their fingers. They were practicing how to smile.

Kawano's services as a smile teacher are seeing increased demand in Japan, where almost everyone wore face coverings such as masks during the pandemic.

Himawari Yoshida is taking the class as part of a school program that prepares students for the job market. The 20-year-old Yoshida said she needed to work on her smile.

"I hadn't used my facial muscles much during COVID, so it's good exercise," she said.

Kawano's company, Egaoiku, which means "smile education," has customers that include private companies and local governments. An hour-long one-on-one lesson costs $55.

Mask-wearing was normal in Japan even before the pandemic. People wear masks when it is allergy¹ season and around school test times.

While the government may have lifted its recommendation² to wear masks in March, many people have not stopped wearing them. An opinion study by public broadcaster NHK in May showed 55 percent of Japanese say they were wearing masks just as often as two months earlier. Only eight percent said they had stopped wearing masks.

Around 25 percent of the art school students who took the class kept their masks on during the class. Young people might have become used to life with masks, Kawano said. She noted³ that women might find it easier to go out without makeup⁴ and men can hide that they have not cut their facial hair.

Kawano is a former radio host. She started giving lessons in 2017.

She has also trained 23 others as smiling coaches to spread the method of creating a good smile.

Her "Hollywood Style Smiling Technique" method includes "crescent eyes," "round cheeks" and shaping the edges of the mouth to show eight teeth in the upper row. Students can try out their technique on a tablet to get scored on their smile.

Kawano believes that, culturally, Japanese people may be less likely to smile than Westerners. The difference could be a result of Japan's sense of security as an island nation and as a state. Reuters news service said Kawano wondered if the threat of guns might cause people to smile more.

"Culturally, a smile signifies⁵ that I'm not holding a gun and I'm not a threat to you," she said.

An increasing number of foreign visitors have been coming to Japan. Kawano said that Japanese people need to communicate with foreigners with more than just their eyes:

She said, "I think there's a growing need for people to smile."

Words in This Story

mirror – n. a piece of glass that reflects images

practice –v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

muscles –n. the parts of the body that create movement

customer –n. a person, company or group that pays for goods or services

allergy season –n. periods during the year when there are high levels of plant pollen⁶ or mold spores⁷ in the air which cause a bad reaction for people who are sensitive to such things

crescent – n. a shape that is curved and pointed⁸ at its two ends like a crescent moon

tablet – n. a flat, rectangular⁹ computing¹⁰ device

 

signify¹¹ – v. to mean (something)

1 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

2 recommendation   

n.推荐（信）建议，优点，长处

参考例句：

• I wrote him a good recommendation.我为他写了一封很好的推荐信。
• This method deserves recommendation.这种做法值得提倡。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

5 signifies   

表示…的意思，意味( signify的第三人称单数 )； 具有重要性，要紧

参考例句：

• The term inflation signifies a decline in the value of money. 通货膨胀一词意味着货币贬值。
• To the patient and to the physician, pain signifies an unnatural state. 无论对患者或对医师，疼痛标志着一种反常状态。

6 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

7 spores   

n.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的名词复数 )v.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Ferns, mosses and fungi spread by means of spores. 蕨类植物、苔藓和真菌通过孢子传播蔓生。
• Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 rectangular   

adj.矩形的，成直角的

参考例句：

• He put a rectangular box on the table.他把一个长方形的箱子放在桌子上。
• The equations are written in rectangular coordinates.这些方程是在直角座标系中写出的。

10 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

11 signify   

vt.表示...的意思，意味，预示

参考例句：

• State ownership in itself does not signify collective control.国家所有本身并不意味集体控制。
• The striped band round a policeman's sleeve is to signify that he is on duty.警察袖子上的袖标标明他正在执勤。