A polite talking ted You may remember Paro, the therapeutic seal robot that has been successful enough to be used by therapists to help dementia patients with stress. Well now NTT DoCoMo has now collaborated with toy firm Iwaya, electronics maker Vitec and communication doll ...
Chinese women getting mixed social signals on beauty, social roles
Chinese women are being buffeted from two sides on social media, bombarded by extreme expectations about physical beauty while also getting support for female independence in a society where women who aren't married by their late 20s are considered "leftovers." In recent months, social media ...
From Philippines, Miss Universe winner says her next dream is to be a Bond girl
The reigning Miss Universe has her eyes set on her next big dream: being a Bond girl. Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach returned home to the Philippines for the first time since her crowning — and that awkward moment when host Steve Harvey mistakenly crowned Miss Colombia ...
100 years of Japanese beauty in one minute
Cut is setting its lens on Japan as it shows the dramatic changes Japanese women have gone through in the past century.
South Korea to lure tourists with tax breaks on breast augmentation
South Korea is taking duty-free shopping to a whole new level, with plans to exclude face lifts, breast enlargements and liposuction from value-added tax for tourists. Desperate to boost tourism after an outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus hurt the economy, the ...
Now in: underarm hair for women
On social media and red carpets, from New York to China, hairy underarms are having a mainstream moment. Women are proudly showing off their growth on Instagram and YouTube, and it is not just Miley Cyrus anymore. Jemima Kirke of "Girls" flashed her fair-colored au ...
Bra-maker's Cinderella Taxis aim to deliver the perfect fit
If you’re sick of waiting for your pumpkin to turn into a carriage, hail a Cinderella Taxi to get a little extra bibbidi-bobbidi-boo in your life. Coming to Tokyo in June and Osaka in July, this special taxi offers riders bra fittings and makeover services ...
Cosmetics maker Shiseido Co. will promote some 2,000 beauty consultants now employed on fixed-term contracts to regular employee status through qualification tests by 2017. It comes as Shiseido's group operating profit for the year to March 31 plunged 44.4 percent from the previous year to ...
Bilingual beauty, straight and permed
Beauty must be a bilingual thing. At least that’s the impression one gets from looking at signs outside hairdressers, beauty parlors and similar types of businesses in Japan.
Alterations of idealized beauty in China, Japan
THE SEARCH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: A Cultural History of Japanese and Chinese Beauty, by Cho Kyo (Zhang Jing), translated by Kyoko Selden. Rowman & Littlefield, 2012, 287 pp., $49.95 (hardcover) China has a phrase, "the four beautiful women," Cho Kyo (Zhang Jing), the Shanghai-born ...
The secret allure of the surgical mask
What started as a trend for the shy is growing into a style choice for some.
The Korean beauty secrets are out
Japanese women, keen to emulate their favorite K-pop idols and K-TV actresses, make a beeline for "Made in Korea" cosmetics.
