2009 December | Japan Probe

Archive for December, 2009

Change your fate by having a plastic surgeon burn new palm lines into your hands

TV Tokyo’s “Ariehen Sekai” introduces a plastic surgeon in South Korea who uses a laser to alter the palm lines of patients who think their hands are unlucky:

The same plastic surgeon is quoted in a 2007 Joong Ang Ilbo article:

Kim Sung-min, a plastic surgeon at Imi Plastic Surgery, said he had been swamped from January to March because of young clients looking for “employment cosmetics.”

“Nearly 30 percent of our patients are seeking to change their looks for job interviews,” Kim said. “Sometimes they come during their third year, saying they want their face to look natural by the time they start job hunting.”

One of the most popular choices for these patients is what’s called “noble cosmetics,” in which a person with protruding lips or a sunken forehead is sculpted by scalpel to look more round and “elegant.” There is also the “face remodeling” operation, which means fat grafting to give the face more balance.

“In the past, patients asked for a specific nose or eye shape,” said Kim. “But those preparing for job interviews want surgeries that will enhance their overall facial image.”

Along with facial sculpting, however, other doctors say they are being asked to perform more exotic procedures such as surgeries to change voices or create specific gum shapes, earlobes and even palm lines that are supposed to bring luck in employment.

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5 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - December 21, 2009 at 8:00 am

Categories: Japanese TV, Odd / Strange

Miyuki Hatoyama sings Happy Birthday

Japanese First Lady Miyuki Hatoyama records a song for unicef’s Happy Birthday Download for Children charity project:

The project has collected “Happy Birthday” recordings from 180 artists and will be selling them for 105 yen each through Japanese music downloading sites starting on January 1st.

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7 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - December 20, 2009 at 9:44 am

Categories: Celebrity News

Bride and groom cut tuna instead of wedding cake

Who needs a wedding cake when you’ve got a bigass tuna to cut instead:

A company in Kanagawa prefecture has offered tuna-cutting marriage ceremonies for about 10 years now. This particular couple has purchased a 100kg BigEye tuna for their guests. They don’t reveal the cost of this particular fish, but they do say that minimum plan costs about 3,000 yen X 50 guests (150,000 yen).

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20 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - at 9:37 am

Categories: Japanese Food, Odd / Strange

Suspended sentence for former ISSH principal who smuggled drugs into Japan

An update on the case of Shirley Lane, a principal of the International School of the Sacred Heart’s Kindergarten/Junior School who was arrested for smuggling six grams of marijuana from the United States into Japan:

The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday sentenced Shirley Lane, 59, a former principal at the school’s kindergarten and junior school in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, and her 62-year-old husband Thomas to one year’s imprisonment, suspended for three years.

“Even in view of the difference between people’s perceptions toward marijuana in Japan and the United States, the defendants bear a grave responsibility, but they admitted to the facts of the case and regret what they did,” Judge Toshikazu Ishii said as he handed down the ruling.

The trial for the Lanes, both of U.S. nationality, opened on Wednesday and concluded the same day. The two defendants had admitted to the charges against them. When their attorney asked Mrs. Lane in court if she understood that she had a bad influence on the school’s students, she apologized repeatedly.

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