Bad news for women on the Pacific side of the archipelago — prefectures on the Sea of Japan coast, often snowy and less sunny, took four of the top five spots in this year's national skin rankings, cosmetics maker Pola Inc. said Thursday.
Pola, which compiled the list, the fourth of its kind, said high-ranking prefectures are often concentrated in the Chugoku, Tohoku, Hokuriku and Shikoku regions because of their climate.
Shimane in Chugoku stayed at the top for the fourth year in a row, with a "beautiful skin score" of 72.4, after an analysis of 730,000 skin data items from Pola customers.
"Shimane's shorter sunshine hours make women in the prefecture less susceptible to ultraviolet rays," the company said. "The amount of moisture in the air in Shimane is also larger, helping women to retain their skin moisture."
Coming in second was Yamagata in Tohoku with a score of 65.3, followed by Ehime in Shikoku at 63.8. Fourth and fifth places went to Hokuriku neighbors Ishikawa and Toyama.
The skin data used to compile the ranking was collected between September 2014 and August 2015 at Pola outlets nationwide. The skin score is calculated based on six fields — skin moisture, wrinkles, spots, acne, skin texture and skin cell conditions.