The word kesho (makeup) is beautiful to look at -- made up of the kanji characters ke (to metamorphose) and sho (to decorate). Combined, they evoke far more than the mere act of making up. Novelists have poured much ink over the depiction of a woman applying powder, dabbing rouge or performing that special ritual of Japanese femininity, mayukaki (drawing one's eyebrows).
Japanese women spend more on kosume (cosmetics) than in any other country in the industrialized world. And it goes without saying that kosume products don't come cheap.
My friend Chiemi, a 35-year-old marketing executive, says her monthly bill for makeup and related kiso keshohin (skin-therapy products) have come to exceed the fee on her parking lot (a painful 42,000 yen per month).