No sweat: Japanese men turn to hair removal in scorching summer
The trend is gathering pace as more Japanese men also shed their resistance to wearing shorts, once considered appropriate only for children or the beach.
Summer is a busy time at a men's grooming clinic in Japan, with appointments becoming increasingly difficult to secure as many seek to remove body hair for relief from oppressive heat. Yuki Kubo, a 24-year-old office worker, had his legs treated for the fourth time at the Tokyo clinic. The smooth surface gave him a feeling of cleanliness and helped alleviate his discomfort from sweating.
While facial hair removal used to be the most popular treatment at the Gorilla Clinic, which has branches all over the country, demand has shifted towards other parts of the body. Hiroyuki Ota, the director of the Tokyo Ginza branch, noted that the trend is growing as more Japanese men embrace wearing shorts, once deemed suitable only for children or beach outings.
The trend is further fueled by record summer temperatures, with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government even adopting a more relaxed "Cool Biz" policy encouraging lighter clothing to combat heat and conserve energy. Last year marked a particularly hot summer, with temperatures soaring to an unprecedented 41.8 degrees Celsius. Data from Hot Pepper Beauty, Japan's leading beauty-focused online platform, revealed that slightly over a quarter of men surveyed had undergone lower-leg hair removal treatments within the past year.
This high demand has made it challenging to secure appointments at the Ginza clinic, which first opened 11 years ago. The clinic director explained that appointment slots were rarely fully filled back then.
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
