Seiichi Hirabayashi, 59, a drug store clerk in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, underwent an operation in April 2006 to remove epithelial cancer in his mouth, transplanting flesh and skin from his chest to his left cheek.
The patched skin formed a ringlike shape measuring 5 cm in diameter, standing out like a white piece of cloth on his suntanned face.
At first, his doctor urged him to wear a surgical mask to cover the scar when he is at work. But it made him think twice when a customer asked him one day, "You sell medicines but is something wrong with your teeth?"